More than 100 Chihuahuas removed from home

[Valasca]

Animal control officers raided a South Philadelphia home and confiscated more than 100 Chihuahuas.
Shortly after 6:30 p.m. along the 700 block of Earp Street, SPCA officials began removing the dogs from the three story row home.

The female homeowner, who is in her 50's, lives alone at the address.

"I can't believe you can have so many animals inside these tiny little houses," a neighbor said to Action News.

Animal officials label the woman as a 'typical hoarder.' Officials say the problem is that hoarders sometimes masquerade as rescuers, describing their homes as shelters, but officials say this home, as often is the case, was anything but.

"There was an overwhelming amount of feces on this property and that's what's making it unfit for a human to live in, let alone an animal," George Bengal of the PSPCA said.

The medical profession now recognizes hoarding as a medical disorder, a disease in which a person collects more animals than they can probably care for.

It's a problem officials say is becoming more prevalent.

Just last night, dozens of animals, both dead and alive, were found in an Olney woman's home, which was declared unfit for habitation by License and Inspection.

"We typically ask for psychological evaluations to get them some help, it does us no good and them no good if we just go in and take their animals out," Bengal said.

Some neighbors say the homeowner had a strong attachment to her Chihuahuas.

"She would probably give her life for them. She did love dogs, cats, she loved animals," one neighbor said.

Some were upset at neighbors who reported it to the SPCA.

"Whoever did this to her, every dog will get their day," neighbor Kristin Cruz said.

Officials say the dogs appear to be OK. They hope the courts will order the owner to seek help.

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?se...ime&id=7555757

[biteme]

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?se...ime&id=7555757

Well, she lived in the right place sounds like some of the neighbors are as nutty as she is

[VXIII]

Either way the dogs are screwed, staying with the woman, she cant keep up with picking up after more than 100 dogs, she cant afford vet care for all of them, they did look well fed and healthy though but it did mention there were dead dogs in the home, now they are taken to the Humane society where a lot of them will be euthanized so these dogs dont have much of a chance either way and a lot of them look like young dogs and puppies... This is what being irresposible does to dogs, a dog allowed to multiply will produce through its offspring 62,000 dogs in 6 years...

[VXIII]

The vast majority will be euthanized immediately and the remaining ones "saved" to a public shelter or the human society will spend their remaining days in a metal cage with cold floor and then sent to an idiot family with no background or home check so they can get "lost", be abused by small kids or angry adults and smacked with rolled up newspapers for pissing on the carpet.

The HS and SPCA are not some noble agencies that magically find good homes for fogs. They're bloated, cash-hungery operations that rake in millions to pay fat-cat board members and kill at least 95% of every animal they "save."

[malq]

I can't even stand one Chihuahua let alone 100. Actually, we are babysitting one now for a friend. He yaps constantly. I'm thinking he will go well with rice pilaf and broccoli

[Valasca]

I can't even stand one Chihuahua let alone 100. Actually, we are babysitting one now for a friend. He yaps constantly. I'm thinking he will go well with rice pilaf and broccoli

Bad malq. Bad, BAD malq.

They go with noodles.

[Chaindrive]

100? That's a shitload of dogs in one house, even as little as they are.

[Aslan]

Yeah I was thinking the same thing Chain, actually I'm kind of impressed that the rescuers said 'they seem okay'
Just thinking of the dog food cost.

Malq, my boss has one. He takes him with him everywhere he goes. Hercules (hahaha I always mimic that Eddie Murphy movie and go all "HERCULES HERCULES" when I see his little 3 pound self) isn't a barker, though. He is more a silent observer who expects a treat every 15 minutes.
He's actually a pretty well adjusted little guy, considering.

But 100 of them? Wow, that would be just a tad too many.
Cripes how did this woman walk? Unless she lived in a mansion she would be stepping on one every other step or 2.

[Chaindrive]

Philly row houses are not that big. I try to imagine 100 black labs (like my Drake) in my house.

Scares the shit outta me, actually.

I barely get by with my 5 cats and the Drake dog.

Can't even come to grips with 100 little dogs.

I'm totally glad they're all in pretty much good shape, though.

[killadelfia]

Note to Admin: Since misdemeanor charges have been filed against the woman, is there any way you could repost this thread in the "Reality Bites" section?

I live near the home on Earp Street and was there for the raid. Two days before the raid occurred I became aware of the situation and posted several blogs detailing the neighborhood's efforts to have the home inspected by city officials. The neighbors had known that this was going on for a year but were unable to get any assistance from the city.

The first complaints were logged in August 2009. In October 2009 the Philadelphia City Paper published a blurb in their short news section titled "Ooh That Smell" which detailed how the neighbors on the block could not open their windows because the smell of feces was so strong. By December 2009, the following agencies had been contacted: PSPCA (50+ times), Department of Licenses and Inspections, Philadelphia Police Department, Ditrict Attorney's Offices, Dept. of Streets and Sanitation, City Councilman DiCiccio's office, Philadelphia Corporation for the Aging, PETA, PA Women's Humane Society, and numerous others. Fox TV was also called and a reporter contacted the hoarder. The reporter believed the woman when she said that the neighbors were lying about everything because they didn't like her. The Fox reporter threatened the tipster, wrote her a nasty e-mail, and told her that she should be sued for slander. This further discouraged the person from contacting news outlets.

Even though everyone knew what was going on, the PSPCA was not able to obtain a search warrant based on the evidence. Barking, crying, and odor do not constitute enough "probable cause" to get a search warrant. The neighbors were told that someone would have to visually witness abuse take place for a judge to sign off on a warrant. Because NONE of the 100 dogs were EVER allowed out, no one could report on their condition.

When I found this out, I urged the neighbors (who had been communicating about this problem on a forum since last summer) to do whatever they could "by any means necessary" to get these animals removed from the home. I basically told them that they were co-conspirators for allowing animal abuse to continue for a year, and that obviously their letter-writing and phone call campaigns weren't working. I suggested they "do what they have to do" to get the police out there.

The neighbors responded that they were afraid of the people and their family, who had been violent in the past. No one was willing to stand up to these people and file a report because they feared retaliation. After hearing about this, I wrote several blogs about the home, visited Earp St. (which stunk like poop and death), and contacted numerous sources asking for help. Coincidentally, the very next day the city finally obtained a search warrant.

I am smack in the middle of writing a new blog entry full of inside details which I have about this, including a possible cover-up by a councilman who is friends with the hoarder's brother, what happened at the scene, details on the woman and her family, the fact that another person lived there but told the cops that he didn't and thus isn't being charged, and photos that have not been released by the media. Then I remembered that I am a Demonite so I decided to come over here before finishing my post and fill you guys in on what really went down.

Every single news outlet omitted the hoarder's name and address except for the Philadelphia Weekly newspaper. I can corroborate the PW's claim that the woman's name is Frances E. Rotonta and that the raid occurred at 739 Earp St.

This is a photo taken of the woman while she stood across the street from her home while it was being raided:


The director of the law enforcement arm of the PSPCA stated that the entire home was covered in feces from wall to wall. The feces was 3 feet deep and the woman had to crawl on all fours over the sh*t mountain to go into a different room. Rescuers had to wear hazmat suits and masks to search the home.


Her daughter lives directly across the street and has known about the situation this entire time. She knew that there were 100 dogs in there (BTW there were also 3 dead dogs that they took out) and that her mother was hoarding feces. Instead of being concerned, her family is angry at the neighbors and whoever the person is that gave them the tip. During the raid, her daughter was yelling at onlookers and telling them to get lives. The woman Kristin Cruz who was quoted in the first post is friends with the daughter and thinks that Frances is the good guy, while the tipster is in the wrong.


A few other tidbits include:

All of the neighbors hate Franny but when the raid was happening some of them were kissing her a** and telling reporters how much she loved her animals. Some of these people had submitted anonymous complaints about Fran in the past.

Franny lived with her husband Richard, who is not being charged, because he lied to the cops and said he doesn't live there.

The state cannot legally commit Franny unless she is deemed a danger to herself or others (humans). People have been urging Richard to say she is suicidal and commit her himself.

When people complained about Fran and Richard in the past, their daughter smeared dog poop on the peoples' doors.

The charges were upped from a summary offense (same as a traffic ticket) to a misdemeanor once the dead animals were found.

The house was overrun with rats and roaches, which had spread into the home next door.

There's a lot more but I need to sort through all the info and finish my blog. I just want to draw attention to the difficulties in obtaining a search warrant in animal abuse cases, and also how the system completely failed and allowed this abuse to continue a year after the first complaints are made.

If you are interested in this story, all of my blog entries on these people can be found here:
http://leilathegoodrat.blogspot.com/...ladelphia%20pa

I'll update you guys with any new information I receive.

[malq]

Thanks for your post Kill.
It's always nice to hear firsthand how it went down. I trying to think of how long it takes these little dogs ,even 100 of them to make 3' thick of poo. They eat less than 1/4 cup per meal. 2x/day.

[killadelfia]

Thanks malq. I was able to go through all of my information and finish my blog. Here are some of the details that I didn't go into on my initial post:

The PSPCA believes that there may be more dead animals buried underneath the piles of feces. The home is 3 stories high with a basement, and has not yet been cleaned out. The city has already condemned the home and posted a sign on the door.

The head of the PSPCA said that this was the worst case he has ever seen in 20 years. He said that the feces was like a "volcano pouring out of the house".

City Councilman Frank Diciccio was first notified of the problem last year. He is very good friends with Richard Rotonta's brother also named Frank. He confirmed in 2009 to the City paper that he had received numerous complaints about the residence. He said that he would look into it, but never did.

The police were called many, many times dating back to July 2009 by neighbors who complained that the home stunk like a dead body (which it did). They refused to check out the reports. At the time, some people thought that someone had died in the home and that the homeowner was allowing the body to rot. In the past year, Frances had only spoken to one neighbor who asked her about the smell. Frances said that one of the dogs had gotten into the closet, starved to death, and been dead for weeks before she noticed it in there.

The chihuahuas are being housed at the Philadelphia PSPCA main location on Erie Avenue (www.pspca.org) For some reason, the 37 dogs in the basement were relatively healthy, while the dogs on the 2nd and 3rd floors were malnourished, had hair loss, and were infested with fleas and parasites.

I'm not sure what the rule is regarding posting personal information on this site so I won't. I will say that if you are interested in contacting Frances' work (the woman who never showered and slept on a mound of sh*t is handling meat at the supermarket), Councilman DiCiccio, or Robin Taylor (Fox reporter who could have stopped the abuse last year but instead chose to tell the neighbors that if they complained about the woman again she would see that they were sued for slander) their contact information is on my blog. In anyone wants to ask Kristin Cruz why she is angry at the tipster instead of being thankful that 100+ animals were saved and now her best friend's mom is living in sanitary conditions, she is on myspace, just search her name in "PA" and it comes right up.

Please spread the word that the current laws enable and encourage hoarders to keep their pets locked in the house at all times. Most people think that an anonymous tip is enough to set off an investigation, when in reality the only way for the humane society to obtain a search warrant is to have an eyewitness sign an affadavit stating that they visually witnessed abuse or neglect within the last 48 hours (at least thats how it is in PA). That affadavit then has to be approved by a judge. If the hoarders/abusers decide to take their chances at trial, the accuser then has to testify. The majority of cases never go to trial though and most are given a slap on the wrist.

In PA, animal cruelty convictions are considered a summary offense which is the same as a jaywalking citation. The abusers simply have to pay $50-$75 and then they can go on and abuse more animals. Killing a pet through abuse or neglect is only a misdemeanor and most people serve no time. This includes torturing a pet (yours or someone else's), skinning a dog or cat, or killing someone's guide dog. The only time it is considered a felony in PA is if the animal killed or tortured was a zoo animal. In some states, there are no felony statutes in place for killing/torturing/maiming an animal, even if it was a zebra that you broke into the zoo and killed.

You can get assistance in contacting legislators and pushing for cruelty law reforms on this site: http://www.americanhumane.org/advoca...y-summary.html

I'm sorry if this turned into a PSA but this case really touched me. I am still traumatized from standing outside of that house and watching them bring out dog after dog. Then I watched as they began bringing out dead animals in small white bodybags. The system failed these animals miserably, and will continue to fail them unless we can make some changes in the animal cruelty statutes.

[Valasca]

PSA away, Killa... I bet all of us feel strongly about animal abuse.

[Chaindrive]

Yes, we do. Thank you for the info.