This is a story not just about animals, but also of people and community, a story in which there are no winners, but lessons learned.
Two weeks ago, Tyler Spurgin was asked by John Klusek, the mobile home renter, to feed and water his dogs while Klusek was out of town. Spurgin agreed after some initial hesitance. He was surprised, to say the least, at what he witnessed.
“The first thing that hit me was the smell,” Spurgin said. “I was shocked as soon as I walked in there.”
Spurgin said that the dogs’ food and water were old and filthy and that “there was waste everywhere. It looked like it had never been cleaned up.”
According to Spurgin, some dogs were segregated from the main living room and barricaded in bedrooms.
“It seemed like they were emotionally maladjusted,” he said of the animals’ behavior.
“I was really, really shook up that night,” Spurgin said. The next morning he went to the Presidio County Sheriff’s Office to file a report with the authorities.
Spurgin said he was directed to continue feeding and watering the dogs. By the time he returned to the mobile one dog had died.
Throughout the days-long event, Spugin said three dogs died. He added that corpses of six dogs were found near a shed on the property, as well as the corpses of six dogs underneath the home.
Spurgin’s wife, Lena, took part in raising awareness of the animals’ condition and finding care and new homes for them.
In addition to calling the sheriff’s department, Lena sent emails with photos of the dogs and their living conditions to various area news outlets, PETA, the SPCA, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, and animal rescue organizations.
“We had talked before about having to take these matters into our own hands,” Lena said.
Spurgin said that understanding that the mobile home was outside of the Marfa city limit and that local government can take some time to act, “It wasn’t happening fast enough,” he said of aid for the animals.
“No animal should be asked to live in the conditions that these animals were in,” he added.
Shortly after Midland/Odessa TV stations ran news stories, the animals’ rescue efforts began.
“It should be noted that I got on the phone with Grand Companions and they agreed they would take the dogs once they could be seized. They had a place from day one,” Lena said of the Fort Davis private non-profit humane society.
 |
| Feces covered the floors of the trailer |
With a coordinated effort on the part of the Spurgins, the City of Marfa, the Presidio County Sheriff’s Office and Grand Companions, the dogs have been removed from the Sal Si Puedes residence and most are being treated and housed at the Fort Davis humane society.
City Manager Jim Mustard said that since the location where the dogs were found is outside the city limits, the city has acted in a voluntary effort.
“The mayor has been involved as a concerned individual. The city has allowed the parties involved to temporarily replace the dogs in town. We also let our sheriff use the animal control vehicle. It’s not in our jurisdiction, we’re just trying to cooperate with the sheriff and Grand Companions.”
Mayor Dan Dunlap seconded Mustard. “I found that I was most useful in facilitating the communication between the sheriff and Grand Companions. Mostly what I did was keep the line of communication open,” he said.
Dunlap said that the city’s animal control officer, George Gonzales, was out of town during the events that took place and will remain out of town on personal business until the end of the month. He did say that it is not the city’s responsibility or in its jurisdiction to handle such situations outside the city limits, only in the case of some sort of public health disaster.
“He’s primarily responsible for inside the city limits. If a rabies outbreak occurred, he would get involved county-wide,” Dunlap said.
As to changing the city’s policy to allow animal control services to be extended to the Sal Si Puedes neighborhood, as other city utility services are, Dunlap said, “No, we’re not looking into that, mostly because I don’t think they want us to. They let their dogs run loose over there. It’s the sheriff’s job to handle that and he’s done that.”
He said that Sal Si Puedes residents are content with not having to abide by all of the city’s rules and ordinances. “Unless the Sal Si Puedes community decides they want to keep all their dogs on their property, then we’re not looking to come out and tell them what to do.”
Dunlap applauded the “helpful and responsive” efforts of Grand Companions for taking in the animals. “I think it’s great to have them as an asset to call upon.”
Presidio County Commissioner James “Jim” White III, who represents the Sal Si Puedes neighborhood in his district, said he only knew what he had seen on TV of the situation, but that he would discuss domestic animal policy with fellow county commissioners.
“We’ll try to keep this from happening again. If it’s something that needs to be addressed we certainly will,” White said.
While all this was going on, Klusek was in an Odessa hospital at the bedside of his wife who had gone for cancer treatment.
His wife, Barbara Marie Miles Klusek, passed away last week. The two had been married since 1989. They had met in Lumberton, New Jersey.
Presidio County Justice of the Peace Cinderella Guevara issued two warrants for seizure of the animals during the ordeal. An arrest warrant was also issued for Klusek who is accused of cruelty to animals, a class A misdemeanor. Klusek has a court hearing on Monday, March 18 for the charge.
Klusek, who, “unfortunately yes,” describes himself as "underemployed" and indigent, was given donations in Odessa to pay for a casket for his wife by Acres West Funeral Home, and a family member helped rent a U-Haul truck to transport her body to Marfa.
He said his wife’s wish was to be buried in Marfa. During a somber and improvised funeral, Barbara was laid to rest at Merced Cemetery on Friday with the help of a few volunteers.
Presidio County Judge Paul Hunt, using pauper funeral county funds, paid for the grave space at Merced. A county employee on a backhoe dug the grave as Klusek and some volunteers waited for the burial.
KLUSEK IN DENIAL, MAKES EXCUSES FOR SUFFERING AND DEATHS
Speaking of the events that occurred, Klusek admitted, “I had too many dogs obviously. I started out with only one dog I took off the street one winter a few years back. Then a couple people dropped off dogs, they brought food then after a few months they stopped.”
Some dogs Klusek took in impregnated others. From there the dogs simply multiplied to a point where he lost control. He did manage to pay for vaccines for some, and had others spayed and neutered.
“I knew I had to get rid of them,” he said. “It was too many for anyone, especially in my circumstances.”
Klusek says he is not cruel to animals; rather he is an animal lover.
“They ate food before me. If I didn’t have much money, I was making sure they were fed first. I was lucky if I ate twice a day.”
He added that the only conditions that were bad was that a few dogs were aggressive and had to be separated, otherwise the bigger dogs would kill the smaller ones.
“As Barbara’s health declined, admittedly, I wasn’t able to keep up with cleaning up the place and taking care of her at the same time. I tried to find somebody to help me.”
Klusek alleges that property was destroyed and personal belongings were taken from the house he was renting, including wedding rings.
Much of the conversation of the events played out on Facebook. The Spurgins were hailed as local heroes. Klusek was vilified at first. People posting on Facebook, in some cases, diagnosed Klusek as suffering from mental health illnesses and labeled him a dog hoarder.
As to those comments, Klusek said, “If compassion means you’re mentally ill, then what kind of world is it? I don’t think compassion means you are mentally ill. I did not try to hoard animals. I tried to facilitate moving them on somewhere else. It was never meant to be permanent.”
Hoarding is a mental illness. Just like an alcoholic or drug addict who needs an intervention because they don't think they have a problem, Klusek makes excuses as to why the animals were forced to live in those conditions.
 |
| Feces inside trailer |
Despite his wife's illness and eventual death, the residence didn't get like that overnight. He didn't end up with multiple dead dogs overnight. He could have placed ONE PHONE CALL to animal control or a humane society or someone and had all the animals removed in one fell swoop. But he didn't. Now he wants to claim that he loved them and that he had personal problems and that he didn't MEAN to neglect these animals and let them die horrific deaths? Let's not forget that 15 dogs died at the hands of John Klusek.
He needs to be prosecuted. The reality is that 99.9% of people convicted of animal cruelty don't spend one single day in jail. They get probation, which is what this guy will get. But he needs to be held accountable for the suffering and deaths he is responsible for.
He said that for months, he had tried to give a few dogs to Grand Companions and that every time he had been told that they didn’t have the space. He questioned why Grand Companions now has the space to care for more than 20 animals.
Show us the phone records, John, that prove you actually called them. Animal hoarders always say this... "I called ___ and they wouldn't take them!"
Grand Companions Executive Director Laura Langham said of Klusek’s question that her organization has to, “Balance all local communities with owner requests that we are inundated with. It’s a balancing act.”
She said she was not aware that more than 20 dogs were waiting to come to her facility.
The article continues on for several paragraphs making Klusek a sympathetic character. I don't care to read it again so you can click the link below if you want to wallow in his self-pity. Clearly, the author of the article is sympathetic. The recidivism rate for hoarding is 100% without mental health intervention. I hope the author of this article and all the people sympathizing with Klusek remember this when he's caught with animals again.
(Big Bend Now - March 7, 2013)
