North Carolina: "Seized Chatham animals were not mistreated" insists Stephane Joostema as she and her daughter Constance Joostema accused of animal neglect

NORTH CAROLINA -- The owner of about 190 animals seized in Chatham County after a raid by animal protection groups on Wednesday said her animals were not badly treated.

“Did they look bad to you? No, they did not look bad to you,” Stephane Joostema told a WRAL reporter. “Cruelty is the most insane word to use for someone like me.”

Local and national animal protection groups started planning the raid after repeated attempts to help Joostema resolve a hoarding issue failed, said Leigh Anne Garrard, director of Chatham County Animal Services.

Some of the animals were in need of veterinary care, said Erica Geppi, state director for The Humane Society.

 

 

“I think the thing that will hit people the most was the sheer volume of animals," she said. “There was just a lot of unsanitary conditions and neglect of care with them."

Joostema said improvements were being made to the animals’ living conditions – efforts she said were hindered by Wednesday’s raid.

 

 

She was willing to show the reporter her 'improvements', but was unwilling to let him into the barns and sheds which had previously housed her animals.

“I do not want to go in because they wrecked the whole place,” she said.

Uh, no I know why she wouldn't let him inside those buildings. It's because there was feces everywhere. She was keeping cats locked in a shed. I'll bet the floor was covered in feces where she wasn't bothering to clean up after them anymore. Funny how she said she was too upset to go into these buildings, but also refused to let the reporter and cameraman go in by themselves.

 

No charges were filed against Joostema as of Thursday evening.

(WRAL - July 17, 2015)

Earlier:

• Scores of animals removed from Chatham home