Case Details

Hoarding 150 dogs, 60 euthanized
Oneonta, AL (US)

Incident Date: Tuesday, May 30, 2006
County: Blount
Local Map: available
Disposition: Alleged
Charges: Misdemeanor, Felony CTA

Alleged: Anelia Smith

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

Case ID: 9002
Classification: Hoarding
Animal: dog (non pit-bull)
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Suspect was in animal welfare field
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Authorities said they've filed felony animal cruelty charges against a Blount County woman after 60 dogs at her kennel - many of them sick, malnourished or injured - had to be euthanized this week.

Ten counts of first-degree cruelty to a dog or cat were filed against 62-year-old Anelia Smith, said Blount County District Attorney Tommy Rountree.

Smith is operator of the Anelia Animal Sanctuary Inc., on Ebell Road west of Oneonta. She was arrested on May 31, charged with misdemeanor cruelty to animals and released from the Blount County Jail on $1,000 bond.

Rountree said it was decided to charge Smith with felonies in the 10 most serious cases. Brian Doherty, the Blount County animal control officer, filed the complaint for the arrest warrants.

Smith's attorney, Ronnie Blackwood, said the plan is to have Smith turn herself in to the Blount County Sheriff's Department next week. Smith maintains she's innocent of the cruelty charges, he said.

Blackwood said there was food and water at the kennel and Smith says she tended to the dogs needs. Photographs of some of the animals Rountree displayed at a Friday press conference don't show the whole picture, he said.

If found guilty, Smith could face from one year and one day in prison to 10 years in prison, Rountree said.

Larry Dabbs, an investigator with the Blount County Sheriff's Department, said a deputy first noticed the dogs' conditions when he responded to a call from a construction worker about a dispute with Smith.

According to Doherty, Dabbs and Rountree, the dogs, most of them hunting dogs, were malnourished and had skin diseases, tumors and injuries. One dog had been sunburned over its entire body because it had lost its hair. Two dogs were found dead in about two feet of feces in a pen.

Water in containers was stagnant. Food had been put into the pens, but it was scattered on top of the feces, the three men said.

As of Friday, 60 dogs had been euthanized, Rountree said. A judge had turned custody of the animals over to Doherty and authorized euthanization, if needed, under the supervision of a veterinarian.

A woman has agreed to take nine dogs Rountree described as "excellent candidates for rehabilitation,"

At least 50 other dogs - possibly twice as many - still are roaming the area around Ebell Road, Rountree said. Many of them have returned to a pack mentality and are vicious, Doherty said. Authorities will be searching for those dogs and, if necessary, killing them under the judge's orders, Rountree said.

A notice is being advertised and sent to homes in the Ebell Road area warning residents of the danger and telling them to confine their pets, Rountree said. The warning is aimed not only at protecting the pets, but also at preventing them from being mistaken by authorities for one of the dogs from the kennel, he said.

Case Updates

Smith's attorney, Ronnie Blackwood, said Smith denies the charge and "feels she has contributed to the well being of the animals."

"She denies that she's done anything to intentionally abuse the animals," Blackwood said.

At the end of a Wednesday court hearing, Circuit Court Judge Robert Austin placed the dogs into the custody of the county animal control officer, Rountree said. The judge ruled that with the advice of a veterinarian euthanization of the animals could begin.

The number of animals euthanized Thursday was not available. "I would expect most if not all will be euthanized," Rountree said. "It's one of the worst things I've ever seen."

While answering the judge's questions on Wednesday, Smith claimed she went to the site everyday for about five hours to tend to the dogs, Rountree said.

Smith claimed she was running a rescue shelter, Rountree said, and didn't believe in euthanasia.

A sign at the property identifies it as Anelia Animal Sanctuary Inc., authorities said. State incorporation records indicate the sanctuary was created in 1994.

Nearly 75 dogs were kept in about 30 pens, authorities said. There were other empty cages on the property. An estimated 75 dogs roamed free.

Pens, about 3 feet by 5 feet each, held up to four dogs, authorities said. Feces up to a foot or more were in many pens. Food lay on pen floors and water in bowls was stagnant.

Some of the dogs had tumors, missing hair or injuries that included at least one broken jaw.

"The bulk of the dogs were malnourished," said Melissa Hull, director of operations for the Greater Birmingham Humane Society. "Some were so emaciated they could not stand up."

No puppies were found, Hull said.
Source: The Birmingham News - June 2, 2006
Update posted on Jun 16, 2006 - 10:08PM 

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References

The Birmingham News - June 3, 206

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