She claimed that “if they weren’t here, they’d be dead,” but witnesses to the conditions more than 100 animals were living in until last week at a woman’s residence in Howell County would beg to differ.
In a week long ordeal involving several state agencies, many animal rescue organizations and the Howell County Sheriff’s Department, close to 130 animals of several species were seized in a series of raids at the woman’s property last week. The Animal Shelter of Texas County (TASTC) acted as the headquarters for the operation, and on several occasions became the staging area for loads of animals on the road to safe haven.
By the time the last load reached TASTC last Thursday, the haul had included well over 100 dogs and cats, along with chickens, doves, a chinchilla, a horse, a donkey, a goat, a wild skunk, and a wild rabbit.
“And a lot of the dogs and cats were pregnant,” TASTC manager Marsha Martin said.
The incident began forming several years ago when Jan Siener, of Act Now Rescue in St. Louis, met the woman at a veterinary office. From then on, Siener offered her various services for what she called her “children.”
“We had been in contact for about three years,” Siener said. “She would ask me for money for things like de-worming shots, and various problems with her ‘children.’”
A couple of weeks ago, the woman called Siener indicating she needed help moving her animals because she had a court date and was likely going to be evicted. Siener responded, and on Aug. 5 made the four-hour trip to the woman’s property, about 15 miles southwest of West plains on county road 6970.
She didn’t see what was coming.
“We were surprised and shocked by what we saw, and we removed 13 cats and 10 dogs and took pictures at that time,” Siener said. “Basically, she is a hoarder and is mentally unstable.”
The scene witnessed by Siener and others included rows of cages stacked in multiple layers containing animals had obviously remained that way for a period of more than a year. Many had mange or other skin disorders, some had claws several inches long and curling back toward their paws, and those on the bottom level were existing in a thick layer of excrement (some of which was their own, and some of which had come from above). The smell emanating from the woman’s home was said to be nauseating, and it was apparent that food and water was not readily available, if at all.
“I wanted to cry,” Siener said.
After Siener sent a mass-email to regional rescue organizations, TASTC and other local rescues took action, including Diana’s Grove Dog Rescue in Cabool.
Martin and TASTC president Rita Romines accompanied Siener back to the scene on Monday and helped remove more animals. Then about 40 more were seized on Wednesday, and more than 50 on Thursday.
Early in the week, Martin and Romines approached the Howell County Sheriff’s Department urging that action be taken. Officers there were already aware of the situation at the woman’s home and a search warrant was obtained by midweek.
Thursday’s final visit subsequently included a deputy with the warrant, and a report was generated and sent to the Howell County prosecuting attorney for potential animal abuse charges.
TASTC has dealt with four hoarding cases in the past two years, and more in its six-year existence. But Romines and Martin agree that nothing compares to this latest case.
“It made me want to cry,” Romines said. “The smell was awful and there were just so many animals all over the place. It was surreal.”
During the previous week, Howell County deputies had observed the carnage along with representatives of the Missouri Department of Agriculture and Missouri Department of Conservation, but were not yet armed with a warrant. As the incident unfolded last week, the MDC reportedly took possession of her wild animals to insure their eventual reintroduction into a natural habitat.
The woman –– who Martin and Siener said is known to use at least four aliases –– is believed to have collected many of her cats and dogs by accepting them from people giving them away in store parking lots, and also picks them up on roadsides if she deems them to be strays.
“When you give an animal ‘free to a good home,’ you really don’t know where it’s headed,” Romines said. “People need to be careful and think about it before you give a dog, cat, puppy, or kitten to just anybody. They could end up a victim like this, and you wouldn’t even know about it.”
Martin said that hoarding situations often involve people –– usually women –– who start out with good intentions but end up in over their heads.
“They take in a stray or two, then some more, and the next thing you know there are cages stacked up on each other,” Martin said. “And they always perceive that they’re taking good care of their animals, even when they’re obviously not.”
“In her eyes, she saw herself as a rescuer,” Siener said.
“She honestly thought she was doing something good for those animals,” Romines said. “To the very end, she was claiming she had done the best for them that she could do. It still hasn’t dawned on her that she’s done anything wrong.”
Martin said she had dealt with the woman before, providing her food or other supplies at TASTC. Martin even called her and offered to take some of her animals when space allowed, but something always “came up” to prevent that from happening.
“She would always say something like, ‘I can’t do it today, it will have to be next week,’” Martin said. “Jan will tell you the same thing – something would always come up. Now she even says it’s our fault she’s in this position, because we wouldn’t take her animals.”
Carole Pitzer, president of the Coalition for Animal Rescue and Education (C.A.R.E.), a large no-kill shelter in Hillsboro, said that animal shelters and rescues sometimes spend more time focusing on each other’s faults than working together, but worked as a team in addressing this situation.
“We have a tendency to criticize each other, but we pulled together this time,” Pitzer said. “We’ve been talking on the phone a lot over the past five days and we’ve probably sent 100 emails trying to get this thing coordinated. We’re going to make sure these animals get into some good homes.”
“Everybody pulled together and has just opened their doors to make this work,” Martin said.
To help TASTC and other rescues feed their sizable influx of new-comers from Howell County, Pitzer provided several hundred pounds of canned and bagged pet food donated by the Rescue Bank, a national organization that arranges for collection and redistribution of pet food that has been re-branded, packaged incorrectly, or is nearing its expiration date to animal rescue and owner retention groups across the United States.
“We get this food at a very reduced rate,” Pitzer said, “and then we contact 60 rescues and say ‘how would you like to buy a 30-pound bag of food for $2.50?’ That means they have more money to use for paying off their vet bills, putting up a new roof, or any number of other things.”
“The food donation played a very important role in this whole thing,” Martin said.
Pitzer pointed out the fact that animal abuse can sometimes be the first step in a multi-level progression of crime that worsens over a period of time.
“First you abuse dogs and cats, and then you move onto kids,” Pitzer said. “Then one day you move on to grown-ups.”
Several news sources around Missouri reported the story and its resulting widespread rescue effort, including TV stations in St. Louis and Springfield.
The woman will plead her case in a court hearing scheduled for Monday (Aug. 20) in Howell County. At that point, a judge will decide whether the seized animals will be returned to her or distributed to new owners through rescue channels. Those channels will include Wonder Weims and All Paws Rescue of St. Louis, Tri-County Humane Society of St. James, and several other organizations. In all, more than 10 rescues had a hand in the operation, as well as numerous veterinary clinics and workers.
In addition to criminal charges, the woman could ultimately face being held responsible for reimbursing the thousands of dollars spent to care for the seized animals.
“Hopefully we can keep her in check,” Siener said. “Hopefully they will monitor her and she won’t be able to own an animal for one to three years and this will stop.”
Romines said it’s getting tougher for people to be animal hoarders.
“There’s more awareness now,” she said, “and neighbors are watching neighbors.”
It made me want to cry. The smell was awful and there were just so many animals all over the place. It was surreal.”