Animals rescued

By MATT MILNER Courier staff writer

March 31, 2008 05:05 pm

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OTTUMWA — Authorities brought out the red, filth-encrusted pet carrier toward the end.
It was the 17th carrier removed from a house at 90th Street and 97th Avenue on Friday. There was only one animal inside, a scruffy brown-and-white dog of indeterminate breed. The carrier was so filthy that volunteers from the Heartland Humane Society decided to put the dog in a new one for its ride to the shelter.
This dog was comparatively lucky to have the carrier to itself. Others had six or eight dogs crammed inside.
The dog was terrified. It didn’t bark. It didn’t bite. It just cowered and shook at the far end of the carrier. Volunteers tried to coax it out. It didn’t budge.
They tried to gently lift it from the carrier. The dog scrabbled at the floor. It planted a rear leg near the door and braced itself.
The outside was better. It was clean. But the dog was too scared. It knew the carrier. It didn’t know the new people.
Volunteers slowly tilted the carrier, upending it with the door open. The dog’s droppings fell out. It stayed in.
Wapello County Chief Deputy Mark Miller said the house was the worst animal neglect call he has seen in 20 years on the job. There were an estimated 80-100 dogs inside, along with a number of cats. Carriers stood stacked one on top of another, while more dogs roamed loose. Feces covered the floor.
The smell from the cages was terrible, even with a light wind outside.
“You only see it on TV,” said Sandy Hudek, manager of Heartland Humane, who came to the house.
She looked around at the empty carriers stacked in the driveway. Some had held a half-dozen puppies, each squirming around to get a look out the door.
An older dog sat quietly in another carrier, slowly looking around and blinking in the bright sunlight.
“That’s they only life they know,” Hudek said, shaking her head.
Authorities arrived early Friday afternoon. They planned the raid since Thursday afternoon. It has been a horrible week for pets in the Ottumwa area. Earlier in the week, police shut down the North Court Pet Palace along Iowa Avenue.
Wapello County Sheriff Don Kirkendall said authorities were still investigating that case when a call came in Thursday about the home just east of Ottumwa.
“A deputy sheriff and the city’s animal control officer were out on another residence that might have had some connection to the incident earlier in the week in Ottumwa,” Kirkendall said. Neighbors said the home was bad, but no one was prepared for what they found. “It looks about as nasty as you can imagine. There’s feces all over.”
The owner, Suzette Stocker, voluntarily signed over possession of the animals to the authorities. That helped. Authorities had a warrant, but Stocker’s signature meant they didn’t have to use it.
The conditions visibly stunned Ottumwa Animal Control Officer Jeff Williams.
“Never [seen one] like this. Never,” he said.
Cheri Staebler drove past the confusion on her way home. She lives near the Stocker residence. She pulled her SUV up and rolled down a window to ask what was happening.
Staebler knew there were a lot of dogs at the house at one time, but that seemed to change this winter.
“Lately all I’ve seen was a couple dogs out and I wondered where all the dogs were,” she said. “I used to see, sometimes in the summer, maybe 15 animals.”
Authorities kept bringing dogs out, carrier after carrier. Nineteen in all. They brought out individual dogs when they could.
The animals’ conditions varied. Some appeared to be in reasonably good shape. They were healthy and alert. Others moved slowly, tails tucked between their legs. An officer in full HazMat gear held an emaciated white dog. The dog’s nails curled more than an inch past its toes. It was losing its hair.
Another dog had sores on its legs. It didn’t want to go into a carrier, but it didn’t bark or even raise its lip in protest as people guided it inside.
Heartland Humane Society is already overcrowded. They called in help from other areas. Cedar Valley responded. They’ll take 30 or 40 animals. Hudek said others may also have space.
As of Friday, authorities had not filed charges against Stocker. Kirkendall said that will wait until after consultations with the county attorney. A veterinarian will check the dogs before they go to new shelters.
Their future past there remains uncertain.
Matt Milner can be reached at (641) 683-5359 or via e-mail at mwmilner@mchsi.com

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