AR-News: (IL - US) 32 dogs recovering after seizure from puppy mill/possible hoarder

[Snugglezzz at aol.com]

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=11337554&BRD=1719&PAG=461&
dept_id=25271&rfi=6 


32 dogs recovering after seizure from Brighton home 
LAURA PRANAITIS , The Telegraph  04/17/2004



BRIGHTON -- Authorities say they are withholding a decision on filing animal 
cruelty charges against the owner of a house where 32 neglected and 
flea-infested dogs were seized earlier this month.



Carole Conley, investigator for the 5As Humane Society in Alton, said the 
small-breed dogs were taken April 8 from a Brighton woman who had been breeding 
the animals but had neglected to care for them.



"I got an anonymous call at the shelter from someone who said we might want 
to check this place out because the woman who lived there seemed to have a lot 
of dogs running around all the time," Conley said Friday. "When we went to the 
home, there were dogs all over the place."



Conley did not reveal the woman’s name or address because she said she was 
unsure whether it was legal for her to do so, but she said the woman did not 
have a license to breed the dogs.



"Because the dogs are so small, at first it didn’t look like there were that 
many. But when we started counting them up, we couldn’t believe that there 
were 32," she said. "They pretty much had free run of the house, and it was 
obvious that they weren’t being taken care of. The carpet was very urine-stained, 
and there was feces dried up and stuck to it. Some of the animals were locked 
in very, very small crates."



Conley said the biggest health problem for the confiscated dogs was heavy 
flea-infestation. The animals also suffered from internal parasites and ringworm.



She said the woman also had a horse and several hamsters at the house, but 
those animals were not taken. Investigators will return to the house in the near 
future to check on the horse and make sure it is being cared for properly, 
and if it is, Conley said the woman will be allowed to keep it.



"The house was like a puppy mill. I think (the woman) might have some 
hoarding tendencies in her, too. She just let the situation get out of control," she 
said.



After visiting the house, Conley immediately called the Jersey County 
Sheriff’s Department to file a report, and deputies responded. The dogs, which were 
mostly bichon frises, along with Pomeranians, Chihuahuas, Shih Tzus and mixed 
breeds, were taken to 5As, where they are being nursed back to health.



Sheriff Paul Cunningham said no charges have been filed, but he did not rule 
out the possibility. He said he did not have the woman’s name available Friday.



"She voluntarily gave up the dogs, and as long as she doesn’t try to get them 
back, no charges will be filed. But if she does try to get them back, she 
could be charged with animal cruelty," he said.



He said he did not believe that the state of Illinois requires individuals to 
have a license to breed animals. "If she had been running a kennel, she would 
have been required to have a license," he said.



Conley said she has received many applications from people who want to adopt 
the dogs when they are well and that new homes are in the works for most, if 
not all, of the dogs.



"They’re all alive, but they need a lot of care right now because no one had 
been taking care of them for a long time. They’re living animals, and we have 
to think of what’s best for them. All we’re doing is trying to protect these 
little guys."



lpranaitis at hotmail.com



©The Telegraph 2004






-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.envirolink.org/pipermail/ar-news/attachments/20040419/5b2eb771/attachment.html