More than 30 dogs and 111 exotic birds and eggs were found in a home described by officials as unfit for anyone or anything to live in.
The woman who was hoarding the animals tells Fox 59 she meant no harm, and is an animal lover. She thought she was doing the right thing.
“They were my life, yeah, they were my life, so were the birds,” she said.
Marianne Averhart watched from a distance as the Animal Welfare League, the health department and law enforcement converged on her home to remove more than 30 Shelties and more than 100 exotic birds that were being kept there. Averhart says she’d been taking care of the animals for more than 20 years when she moved from California.
“They were my life, yeah, they were my life, so were the birds,” she said.
Marianne Averhart watched from a distance as the Animal Welfare League, the health department and law enforcement converged on her home to remove more than 30 Shelties and more than 100 exotic birds that were being kept there. Averhart says she’d been taking care of the animals for more than 20 years when she moved from California.
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| She calls it "raising them", but really she's been breeding |
“I moved out here 26 years ago, and brought them out here with me and kept raising them. I’ve been raising them ever since. They are the ancestors of the ones I brought from California 26 years ago,” said Averhart.
Averhart says she was raising the animals with her husband until he was placed in an assisted living facility. The job became her own–and too much for her to handle.
“The house is just unfit for human habitation, it’s unfit for animal living, too,” said Shari Harrington with Montgomery County Emergency Management.
Officials learned of the animal hoarding Wednesday night after getting a tip that one of Averhart’s dogs was dead. Animal welfare responded, realized the enormity of the situation and called in all the help they could get.
Officials say it was so bad in the home that taking the dogs and birds out meant dressing in hazmat suits. There was so much bird and animal waste that it could have caused these people to become sick. The dogs, too, were not in good shape.
“From what I could see, there was a lot of skin disease, there was a lot of eye disease, they were not well fed,” said Harrington.
Students from Purdue University exotic animal studies were called out to help rescue the birds, which were in better shape. As rescuers pulled them out, we noticed baby birds hatching.
All of the animals will be treated, but Marianne Averhart stands by her word–she thought she was doing the right thing.
“Faithfully coming out here to still take care of these animals, but with no help,” she said.
The prosecutor’s office will be getting involved in this case and awaits reports from the health department and the animal welfare league as well as pictures from the home. No charges have yet been filed.
(Fox 59 - Sept 6, 2013)
Signs of animal hoarding:
- Unable to provide minimal levels of nutrition, sanitation, shelter and veterinary care
- In denial about both his or her inability to provide care and about the impact of that failure on the animals, their home and other people who live on the property
- They have numerous animals and may not know the total number of animals in their care
- Their home is deteriorated (i.e., dirty windows, broken furniture, holes in wall and floor, extreme clutter)
- Animals are emaciated, lethargic and not well socialized
- Fleas and vermin are present
- They are isolated from the community and appear to neglect themselves
Characteristics of hoarders:
- Most are female
- Most live alone
- Almost half are 60 years of age or older
- In almost 70% of investigated cases, animal feces and urine are present in the hoarder’s home
- Sick or dead animals were discovered on the premises in 80% of the cases; and in 60% of these cases, hoarders denied there was a problem
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