Summary: A recent animal neglect and abuse case is both disturbing and heartbreaking as it becomes apparent the lack of resources available to the local humane society as they struggle to care for the more than 100 animals seized from a New Philadelphia farm in July.
A tip from a concerned neighbor alerted Tuscarawas County Humane officer, Steve Bush to O.K. Haven Farm at 3386 Henderson School Rd. where suspected animal neglect and abuse was allegedly taking place when a dog with a collar growing into his skin was spotted off the farm property.
Bush and Rhonda Rosenberry, Vice President of the Tuscarawas Humane Society arrived at the farm in question on July 7th and asked to see the dog but were denied access and told by farm owner, Deborah Brown they would need to secure a warrant before she would allow them access to the dog.
When we arrived at her farm we were simply there to investigate the neglect or abuse of a reported dog with an imbedded collar. What we saw when we arrived surprised us, said Rosenberry. We counted 15 dogs in the driveway and could see others on the property tied on short tethers. The bizarre placement of the dogs made us suspect something was going on. We had no idea Brown had a history of animal neglect or abuse at that time.
In 1999 Brown was charged and convicted of 10 counts of animal abuse.
Bush and Rosenberry returned with a search warrant on July 15. The conditions inside the barn were unbelievable. The smell was like nothing I had ever experienced. Between the dogs and goats and rabbits and the feces everywhere, it was difficult to tolerate. It was burning our eyes and noses. Much of the feces had petrified and was hard, As we got closer to the rabbit cages our boots just sunk in because of all the urine, said Rosenberry. None of the animals had adequate food or water.
Dogs were also found in various other locations on the property. According to Rosenberry, one dog was tied to a piece of farm equipment in a storage shed away from the others. She stated that Brown had told her the dog had gotten loose in a storm and that is where she tied him up. At that point it had been some time since we had had a storm so its hard to say how long he had been there, said Rosenberry.
The humane seized 102 animals that included rabbits, dogs, goats and horses. We are simply not equipped to handle this many animals at once. We were only allowed to take the animals that were in obvious need of vet care. We had to scramble to get kennels and space in order to adequately care for all of them, said Rosenberry. We had to hire two part time employees just to help with this case and it is still not enough. Our resources have been stretched to the limit. We get no funding from the county and rely strictly on donations.
Since we have taken on this case we have had had to turn away other animals in need because we simply dont have the space or the resources. The community expects us to handle everything and we just cant without more help, said Kelly Schoelles, Tuscarawas County Board member.
In November 2009 Ohioans overwhelmingly passed State Issue 2, a constitutional amendment requiring that the state establish comprehensive livestock care standards. Those new standard go into effect September 29. The new standards will help us a little bit but they are not for companion animals and that is mostly what we care for. The abuse and neglect of companion animals needs to be a felony. Right now we handle cases that require so much of resources only to have the abusers get a $100 fine and no jail time. Some of these cases take a year to complete. In the end the abusers sign the animals over to us anyway, said Rosenberry. If they would just sign the animals over to us to begin with we could begin finding homes for these animals right away.
Currently the humane society cannot adopt out any animal that is involved with a pending case.
We dont want to go to court. It doesnt do any good. New laws need to be put into place that protect animals and punish abusers, said Rosenberry.
We have gone to the county commissioners but they cant help us, said Schoelles. Under Ohio Revised Code 2931.18 the county commissioners are able to pay up to $1000 per case for legal fees relating to animal abuse. Unlike the Tuscarawas County Dog Pound that deals with dogs at large and does not act as a shelter and receives its annual budget through the county budget from the collection of dog and kennel fees, the humane society receives no funding except a monthly $500 stipend paid to the humane officer.
The humane society is in need of resources to help care for the animals taken in the seizure and others they are helping. What we need now is rabbit pellets, cat litter, and cat food, both wet and dry. We need more volunteers and more foster homes. These animals can all be placed in foster homes then hopefully they can adopt these animals pending the outcome of the trial. All of the horses and goats and 4 of the dogs are in foster homes now and that really helps us, said Rosenberry.
The Tuscarawas County Humane Society is located at 6895 Dover-Zoar Road at Dover. Donations can be made through their web site. They can also be reached by phone at 330-343-6060 or visit their Facebook page.
If you suspect animal abuse call their abuse hotline at 330-339-8968.
