AR-News: LA Cruelty Case---Urgent Donations Needed For 119 Animals

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Subj:URGENT DONATIONS NEEDED FOR 119 ANIMALS IN LOUISIANA CRUELTY /ABUSE 
CASE.PSYCHIATRIST CHARGED 
Date:3/29/2004 2:11:46 PM Eastern Standard Time
From:KSPER334 at FOXTV.COM
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CC:mayer.83 at osu.edu, lbo43054 at yahoo.com
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PLEASE DO NOT HIT REPLY, CONTACT INFO. IS LISTED!!!!

HOW YOU CAN HELP AND MORE INFO:
http://4paws.homestead.com/Rescue.html 

From:     Lindsey Mayer <lbo43054 at yahoo.com>
To:    <mayer.83 at osu.edu>
Date:     3/29/04 9:22AM
Subject:     URGENT DONATIONS NEEDED FOR 119 ANIMALS IN LOUISIANA CRUELTY 
/ABUSE CASE.PSYCHIATRIST CHARGED


   From: "Katie Walter" <katie.walter at comcast.net>
Subject: URGENT DONATIONS NEEDED FOR 119 ANIMALS IN. 
LOUISIANA CRUELTY /ABUSE CASE.PSYCHIATRIST CHARGED

119 DOGS RESCUED

Parish Animal Control facing huge chore meeting all the 
needs

BY MATTHEW PENIX

SLIDELL SENTRY-NEWS



ABITA SPRINGS -- The small black puppy stood still.


It didn't move or wag its tail.


Neither did it bark nor jump around.


But as caregivers reached for it, the mixed lab turned its head to look.


Its deep eyes looked confused. Its body shook.


"It's probably one of the first times it has been held," said Melisa Sulivan, 
a supervisor at the St. Tammany Parish Department of Animal services (STPDAS).


The pup, alongside 118 more dogs and seven turtles, were seized from a 
Lacombe woman's home Wednesday after neighbors complained of a biting stench 
swirling around a house at 65113 Fish Hatchery Rd., about three miles north of 
Lacombe.


The owner of the home, Dr. Janis Walder, a psychiatrist, turned herself in 
Thursday after she was charged with 119 counts of cruelty to animals, 
authorities said. The animals were found covered in feces and urine, malnourished, and 
cowering from people.


A court hearing is set for March 23 at the 22nd Judicial Court in Covington 
in front of state judge Reginald Badeaux, said District Attorney spokesman Bart 
Pepperman. The District Attorney's office is also expected to file motions 
today to protect the dogs, he said, adding the animals are being held at the 
STPDAS in lieu of a $25,000 bond.


"I understand it was a real bad mess," said Pepperman. 
"They couldn't understand how this woman could get in and out of there 
without walking through it [feces]."


Dr. Brent Robbins, director of the STPDAS and the dog's newest caretaker, 
can't understand either.

As he spoke Thursday afternoon his voice trembled.


It's hard for him to understand how two puppies had simply died at the 
residence and the skeletal remains of at least four others were left on the 
property, he said.

Nor could he understand how 55 dogs survived inside the house and 47 more 
lived outside, some of which were buried in a foot of feces, he said.

He paused. For a moment, it seemed as though he might cry.


"The pups aren't in good shape," he said. "Some may have to be humanely 
euthanized. They're going to need a lot of work."


Many of the dogs have eye and skin problems and all are infested with 
parasites, he said. Others are the victims of inbreeding and some are in the later 
stages of gestation.

About a dozen or so lived in chicken coops with no lights and no contact from 
people, he said.


"They act like they have never seen a person," he said. 
"They're almost like a coyote."

Indeed, they were.


As shelter employees walked past the cages of dogs, they laid together, 
cowered in the corner. Their limbs were intertwined as if one. It was difficult to 
tell them apart.

Each of their eyes seemed to tell the same story in a different way.


"I'm going to go out of my way to take care of each and every one of them," 
Robbins said, but "it's a real strain."

If it wasn't for the help of several governmental agencies including public 
works and city maintenance crews, Robbins would have never got all the dogs 
out, he said. In fact, Robbins and his crew are hoping people will contact the 
animal shelter at 985-809-0183 to donate time, supplies or money, he said.


As is, his facility is filled at twice its capacity. Provisions are needed, 
and his staff is overworked. It will take at least one more day to bathe them 
all, he said, much less devote needed attention.


"A lot of it is going to be time," he said. "They need to learn to trust a 
person."

Currently, the dogs are still Walder's property, he said. Robbins is hopeful 
she will sign the dogs over to him, but doesn't think that will happen.


Officials said Walder displayed classic symptoms of companion animal 
hoarding, an illness that tells people they can take care of animals better than 
anyone else.

"It's pretty terrible, but it's an illness. Some people can't help it," said 
Vickie Campos, president of Proponents for Animal Welfare in St. Tammany 
(PAWS). Although Campos admits she is no doctor, she said Walder displayed symptoms 
of it.

PAWS has so far donated $1,000 worth of heartworm treatment.

But officials will need more, they said.

The black pup shouldn't shake. It doesn't need to look confused when people 
pet it.

It deserves a home, said Robbins. It deserves a friend.

HOW YOU CAN HELP AND MORE INFO:
http://4paws.homestead.com/Rescue.html
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