Roberta Dueitt and her daughter, Sharon Dueitt, were arrested Thursday and charged with 20 counts of cruelty to animals, Summerdale Police Chief Eddie Ingram said. The two were released from the Foley city jail on $10,000 bail. Ingram said police are looking for a third suspect and other charges could be filed against the Dueitts.
Twenty dogs and two cats were found dead after a Summerdale police officer arrived at Purple Hearted Puppies on Thursday night in response to a neighbor's complaint. Inside police found dogs and cats left without food in cages for weeks, Sonja Presley, executive director of the Baldwin County Humane Society, said today at the site.
About 50 cats were found in cages inside the house. Two of the cats were dead. Two horses found on the property could not be saved and were put to death, Presley said.
"It's voluminous and it's taking all the rescue groups and veterinary clinics to collaborate. No one has ever seen this magnitude of animal cruelty in Baldwin County."
Some of the dog carcasses had been eaten by other starving dogs, Presley said.
"It was survival," she said. "They cannibalized the other dogs."
Police found cases of pet food and other supplies at the site.
"This place just got too large for these two ladies to handle and they just abandoned it," Ingram said.
Gina Farmer, a technician with Dykes Veterinary Clinic in Foley, led an emaciated female dog to her car and held a shivering Yorkie wrapped in a blanket.
"It's really, really bad in there," she said coming out of the barn where the dogs had been kept. "It's awful. I've never seen anything like it."
Bonnie Carlson held a folder containing photos of her cat, Baxter. She asked Presley and other volunteers if they had seen the gray and white cat. She said she had left the 4-year-old Persian at the site about three months ago, trying to find a home for the cat.
"When I heard the news, I couldn't believe it," she said. "They said cruelty to animals in Summerdale and I thought, 'Oh no. Please don't let it be.' But it was."
Postings on al.com in response to a story on the arrests and Sharon Dueitt's Facebook page said the family did not realize the animals were being neglected.
"First off I didn't know the animals was in that bad shape. I had people working for me, people who I thought I could trust and who called me daily telling me he and his wife been taking care of the animals. I had no reason to doubt him and his wife," the posted statement said.
"I didn't run off. I was sick, so was my mother with the stomach flu. My worker told me not to worry he take care of everything for me to rest and take care off my mother who is already in bad health."
Today, officers checking the Dueitt's home on Adams Acres Road in Robertsdale found 24 more neglected animals, Robertsdale police said.
In the two-story home or in the yard, officers found 10 cats, seven dogs and seven goats, according to police. Three of the cats, newborn kittens, had died before being found. Today, a veterinarian and technicians could be seen treating other animals.
Neighbor Evelyn Lowery said she had last seen someone at the house on Jan. 19. She said she had reported animal problems to the police, but did not realize the animals were being neglected.
"We called about the smell from the goats and about the dogs barking at times, but we had no idea this was going on," she said.
About 40 people were at the Summerdale site this morning. Many brought donations of food, blankets and other pet supplies for the animals. Some had pet carriers in their vehicles and asked about adopting some of the dogs and cats.
Presley said all of the animals will have to be examined before being sent to outside homes.
(Press-Register - Jan 27, 2012)
Earlier:
