  Not Ranked. Helpful AND tactful post? : 0  Largest rescue in HSMO history. 360 + animals, absolutly sickening. | |
This is sickening. There's even children involved. The largest animal rescue in Missouri history, the numbers seem to keep changing. Quote: August 12, 2008-Working in cooperation with the Polk County Sheriff’s Department, a 26-person team from the Humane Society of Missouri is rescuing more than 360 animals on an 80-acre property outside of Pleasant Hope, Mo. in Polk County in southwest Missouri.
Among the animals are 53 dogs, 43 rabbits, 11 cats, 26 ducks, 25 chickens, 21 guinea pigs, 10 goats, 7 donkeys, 2 kangaroo rats, 1 pig and more than 170 koi fish and goldfish. A disposition hearing to determine custody of the animals will be held at 9 a.m., September 2 at the Polk County Courthouse in Bolivar Mo.
According to Humane Society of Missouri humane investigators and representatives of the sheriff’s department, the animals are living in deplorable, filthy conditions with little to no access to appropriate or adequate food; no fresh, clean water; and no adequate shelter. Many are underweight and suffering from poor skin and coat conditions and other veterinary maladies. Numerous dead animals also were found throughout the property.
“To see this many animals in such horrible conditions is truly heartbreaking,” said Tim Rickey, director of Rescues and Investigations for the Humane Society of Missouri. “People who purchase animals from owners of operations like this are being deceived. These animals are not well cared for; many may have contagious diseases and have been living in filth with inadequate food, shelter and veterinary care for a long time. We will work closely with law enforcement to do everything in our power to ensure the owners will not be able to harm animals in this way again.”
Horses and farm animals will be taken to the Humane Society of Missouri’s Longmeadow Rescue Ranch in Union, Missouri. Most of the other animals will be brought to the Humane Society’s Headquarters on Macklind Avenue in St. Louis, Missouri. A Missouri fish hatchery is assisting Polk County law enforcement with the transport, housing and care for the exotic fish.
| Humane Society of Missouri - www.hsmo.org Quote: ST. LOUIS, Missouri (AP) -- More than 360 domestic and farm animals, many of them emaciated, injured and suffering from mange and parasites, were rescued Tuesday from a filthy southwest Missouri property where they were hoarded and bred, authorities said
The owner of the property was charged with child endangerment because six children, ages 1 to 11, also had been living in what authorities described as an unbelievable scene: 12 to 15 house trailers stacked to the ceilings with junk, trash and debris, crawling with cockroaches. The only water source was a bunch of garden hoses strung together.
"These homes are not fit for anyone to live in," human or animal, Polk County Sheriff Steve Bruce said.
The 363 animals include more than 70 dogs and more than three dozen cats, plus donkeys, rabbits, ducks, chickens and exotic fish. The Humane Society of Missouri and Polk County also found 12 to 15 dead rabbits, dogs, cats and poultry.
Authorities descended upon the property with warrants after the family who owns the land failed to heed warnings last month to begin providing proper care, said Tim Rickey, the Humane Society's director of rescues and investigations.
In the days since those warnings, many of the animals had been released from their cages, prompting neighbors to complain. Authorities took a closer look and found that children also were on the 80-acre rural property near Pleasant Hope in southwest Missouri. Child-welfare workers removed the children about a week ago, Bruce said.
Property owner Virginia Gambriel, 61, was arrested and charged Tuesday with two counts of felony child endangerment over living conditions Bruce described as the worst he's seen in 16 years of public service.
More charges are expected against Gambriel and others, Bruce said. Gambriel is being held in lieu of $7,500 bail and doesn't have an attorney, he said.
Three families lived on the property, authorities said, but the total number of residents wasn't clear. The property, littered with 15 to 20 abandoned vehicles, was "in the brush in the middle of nowhere on a dead-end road" that deputies rarely visited, Bruce said.
"We've known for a while they were a little strange, that they didn't want interference from the outside world, but unless we're down there on a call, it's not part of our routine patrol," Bruce said.
The local Humane Society called the rescue the largest it ever had undertaken and said the people were "clearly hoarders" who were raising and breeding rabbits and dogs, but not necessarily for sale.
The creatures were half friendly, half shy and almost all afraid. Many of the animals were running loose, Rickey said.
Investigators said the animals had lived in filthy, deplorable conditions without adequate food, water and shelter. Many are underweight and suffering from poor skin and coat conditions and other maladies.
Bruce said Gambriel told him most of the dogs were abandoned strays she picked up and brought home.
A custody hearing for the animals was set for September 2 in Bolivar.
The horses and farm animals will be treated at the Humane Society's Longmeadow Rescue Ranch in Union, while others will be taken to the St. Louis headquarters.
They will not be available immediately for adoption, but donations of money, bedding, food, cages and toys are needed, along with volunteers, the Society said.
St. Louis psychotherapist Alec Pollard said that hoarding is a serious psychiatric disorder that impairs judgment.
Pollard said that typically, an animal hoarder goes to court, evokes the judge's pity and walks away with a warning but no mandated treatment.
"Jail is inappropriate for these folks, but to go untreated is not the answer either," he said.
| 360 animals, 6 children rescued from filth, neglect - CNN.com Quote:
ST. LOUIS (AP) - The Humane Society of Missouri calls it the largest animal rescue in its history.
The Humane Society says it removed 363 emaciated, injured and suffering animals from an 80-acre property near Pleasant Hope in southwest Missouri. The agency says the domestic and farm animals were hoarded and bred and left in filthy conditions without adequate food, water and shelter. They're being treated at Humane Society facilities in St. Louis and Union, Missouri.
Investigators also found more than a dozen dead animals.
Polk County authorities say that about a week ago, child welfare workers removed six children from the home.
Sixty-one-year-old property owner Virginia Gambriel was arrested and charged today with two counts of felony child endangerment.
More charges are expected
| CW11
Video: CW11
Pics: Humane Society of Missouri - http://www.hsmo.org: Photo Albums - Polk County Rescue August 2008
So sad.
I'm thinking of fostering a few of the Guinea Pigs when they are ready. I'm not sure that I can take on more for good though.   |
08-13-08, 10:33 pm
