Beverly Brock, 42, a freelance photographer pleaded no contest to the animal cruelty charges. The County Court Law Judge Joseph Terracina ordered Brock to perform 900 hours of community service, she was fined $600 and ordered to get whatever counseling the probation department deems appropriate. Brock also received one year probation with deferred adjudication, which means the criminal case will not appear on her record if she successfully completes the terms of her probation.
When Harris County deputy sheriffs, constables and firefighters responded to neighbor complaints about extreme foul odors coming from Brock's home on June 22, they found 21 dead cats and 23 others in poor health. The cats were locked alone for months in a bug-infested, smelly house in Webster.
"You couldn't see the floor because of the dead cats, the feces, hundreds of empty cans of cat food and other things strewn around. There were foot high piles of beetle-infested food on the floor and containers of milky looking water everywhere."
The authorities had to wear breathing gear to go into the home to investigate.
The SPCA carried out 12 live cats, but the other less tame 12 cats hid during the first search and were later caught in traps.
Some of the surviving 24 cats, plus two dogs found in the backyard, were nursed to health and put up for adoption.
Many of the animals were in such poor health they had to be euthanized.
Brock said the problem with feeding and caring for her animals was her fear of two "vicious golden retriever dogs" that lived at a neighboring house.
"She said she was afraid the two neighborhood dogs were inside the house. So she only went there between 1 and 4 a.m. three times a week and she never turned on the lights. She left the food and water on the floor and then left."
It was stated some areas of the floor looked like it was moving because of the large number of beetles feeding on the decomposing carcasses.
Brock had not lived in the home for six months prior to the constables entering the home. She was busy taking care of her ill mother in Houston. Brock's lawyer said she returned to the home periodically to leave food and water for the cats but did not go all the way in because of an attempted rape and several peeping tom incidents. She also came only at night and was unable to see the condition of the home.
Neighborhood dogs killed many of the cats after knocking out a fan in a window of the house.
Brock was afraid of the dogs and that was another reason she didn't go all the way into the home. Case UpdatesBeverly Brock has been sent to jail for 10 days to help her break what authorities call an overwhelming compulsion for collecting dogs and cats.
Brock allegedly was sneaking back late at night to put cat food outside a Webster house she sold several months ago creating sanitation problems. Her late night visits unsettled the new owners and the neighbors.
Repeated efforts to get Brock counseling or therapy to overcome the obsession she has for animals has failed. The judge sentenced her to jail time for violating prohibition against feeding felines. | Source: Houston Chronicle
Update posted on Apr 15, 2006 - 9:56AM |
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