Case Details

Hoarding - 6 dogs abandoned
Mount Vernon, NY (US)

Date: Mar 6, 2006
County: Westchester
Local Map: available
Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Jane E Johnson

Case ID: 7801
Classification: Hoarding
Animal: dog (non pit-bull)
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Suspect was in animal welfare field
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A 40-year-old Mount Vernon woman who wanted foster animals in her home and once volunteered at an animal shelter is now charged with animal cruelty.

Jane Johnson, 40, was evicted from her apartment at 501 E. Third St. but left the animals behind with no food, authorities said. Paula Young, director of the Mount Vernon Animal Shelter, said her workers had to remove six dogs (two chows, two Lhasa apsos, a German shepherd and a husky) and two parrots � all hungry � from filthy conditions. One of the dogs died from stress, Young said. "The apartment was a disaster," she said.

Mount Vernon Police Chief Joseph Pizzuti said there were animal and bird feces, urine and bird feathers all over the apartment. "It was squalid conditions," he said. All but two dogs were turned over to people who are providing foster care for the animals, Young said. Two dogs are being cared for at the Mount Vernon shelter. According to authorities, on March 6, 2006, police were sent to Johnson's Mount Vernon home to investigate reports of animal cruelty after neighbors saw her dogs walking unsupervised around the neighborhood. Her landlord told police that Johnson was being evicted and had to leave by March 11, 2006.

Johnson called the Mount Vernon Animal Shelter to ask if she could bring one dog there because she was leaving, Young said. "We never heard from her again," Young said. In the past week, working on another complaint of animal cruelty at Johnson's home, shelter officials found some of Johnson's animals wandering in the street and took them in. Officials later went to the house with police and removed the remaining dogs and birds.

On March 17, 2006, Mount Vernon detectives located Johnson at a Netherlands Avenue apartment in the Bronx. She was arrested and charged with animal cruelty and abandonment, misdemeanors.

She was arraigned Saturday. During a bail hearing Monday, Mount Vernon City Judge Adam Seiden set $500 bail. Johnson has been unable to make it and remains in the Westchester County jail in Valhalla. She is due back in Mount Vernon City Court on April 11.

Young said many residents in Mount Vernon leave animals � mostly cats � behind when they leave their apartments, and the shelter has to rescue and care for them.

"People think that they can just do this," Young said. "It's against the law."

Young said Johnson is a one-time volunteer for the animal shelter and wanted to start her own fostering program, but did not have the financial means.

"The fact that Jane did this is worse than an uneducated person," Young said. "She did this knowing that resources were available (at the animal shelter)."

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References

The Journal News - March 22, 2006

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