"The enclosures were too small for the animals, there was inadequate food, water, shelter. In some cases none of the above," said Detective Robin Crehan who works for the Pima County Sheriff's Department focusing on animal cruelty.
She says she knew the severity of the case when she arrived at the home near Old Vail Connection and Country Club Roads, an area of the city commonly referred to as the Dogpatch, where animals are often found abandoned or dead.
"There wasn't proper drainage," she said. "There was standing water in these kennels. These kennels hadn't been cleaned out, dog feces was built up and causing a health hazard for the dogs. Also since the dogs don't have enough food to eat, many times they'll eat the feces of other dogs."
Deputies arrested the homeowner, 66-year-old Olga Arvizu, and booked her on seven counts of Cruelty to Animals.
In all, authorities took 44 animals away from her, including 32 adult dogs, six puppies, two cats, three chickens and one rabbit. All of the animals are now being cared for at Pima Animal Care Center.
A spokesperson there says some animals came in emaciated, but it doesn't appear any have serious illnesses or injuries. Some of the dogs appear very aggressive toward humans, and volunteers at the shelter have been trying to socialize with the dogs. Crehan says each animal will be evaluated by a veterinarian to determine its health status.
After the investigation concludes, Pima Animal Care will assess what animals can go up for adoption. As of right now, the animals are still considered evidence.
Crehan says they are not calling this a hoarding case, but it could turn into that as the investigation continues.
"We have several people looking at this because the question is how did this come about?" she said. "What was the time frame, how long did it take for circumstances to get to what we found?"
9OYS also discovered this is the second time authorities have taken away Arvizu's animals. In 2007, Pima Animal Care says they seized 44 animals from her home in South Tucson. Police there say they responded twice to her home concerning her animals, including one call where she barricaded herself in her yard refusing to come out.
Pima Animal Care said after the 2007 seizure, they didn't hear from her until this very similar case emerged last week.
(KGUN 9 - Jan 20, 2015)
WITHOUT MENTAL HEALTH INTERVENTION, THE RECIDIVISM RATE FOR HOARDING IS 100%.
Dozens of animals seized from 29th Street home
ARIZONA -- Neighbors say they knew South Tucson resident Olga Arvizu had a few dogs. They always heard them barking. But people never dreamed she had 16 of them.
Nor did they suspect Arvizu’s house and yard, in the 300 block of West 29th Street, was home to 11 cats, two doves, eight roosters and seven hens.
While some neighbors did not seem to mind, at least one area resident thought it fit to call the Pima Animal Care Center to lodge a complaint about excessive animal waste. County workers did not identify the resident who complained.
This led four county animal workers to confiscate the 44 animals Thursday morning. They took the menagerie from the small three-bedroom home and outside in the yard, which came complete with makeshift, wooden chicken coops, a dilapidated couch and other debris.
Arvizu was not home at the time of the seizures and could not be reached for comment Thursday night.
“I didn’t think she had that many (animals),” said nearby convenience store worker Jessica Perez.
Since the store opens at 10 a.m., the roosters would be well past their crowing time. Still, Perez always heard dogs barking when she closed the store at 11 p.m., she said.
Alicia Montano knew about three of the dogs. She baby sits her niece and nephew two doors down from Arvizu’s house and always makes sure to walk a distance from her neighbor’s gate.
“They would stick their heads up through the fence,” she said of the dogs, “but I never saw them get loose.”
County animal enforcement operations manager Gerardo Sanchez said the dogs were mixed breeds, as were the cats. Some of the animals appeared to have “symptoms” of ill health, he said.
“They were confiscated due to the main concern of public health and the animals,” Sanchez said.
The county is investigating to see if citations are warranted. Sanchez said citation choices could include animal cruelty, lack of shelter, lack of water and lack of veterinary care.
Sanchez said a bond for the animals will most likely be posted. If Arvizu pays the money, he said, the case will go to court and a judge will decide the animals’ fate.
If she doesn’t pay the bond, he said, the animals could become the property of the county, which will care for them and try to arrange adoptions.
South Tucson police described Arvizu as an animal lover.
“She collects animals and she cares for animals the way some people care for the homeless,” Officer Billy Lackey said.
(Tucson Citizen - June 1, 2007)
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