Investigators charged the woman, Stephane Elizabeth Joostema of 902 Olive Street in Apex with 27 counts of felony animal cruelty, according to a cache of arrest warrants filed Friday at the Wake County Magistrate’s Office.
Her daughter Constance Joostema, 22, was also arrested.
The animals involved cats that endured “permanent disfigurement” to their ears and eyes. She was also charged with confining an undisclosed number of cats and dogs, “on a rear, enclosed porch,” and more cats in a chicken coop.
Investigators say Joostema apparently had a second coop for chickens that were also victims of neglect, court records show.
Joostema has also been accused of creating a “harmful environment” of “neglect, care and torture” by “starving” two cows on the property and allowing a dog on the property to develop a severe dental infection that resulted in the loss “of almost all of his teeth.”
Two more dogs on the property also suffered permanent disfigurements to their skin and joints, respectively, court records show.
Deputies say Joostema’s neglect of a horse on the property resulted in the animal’s death. A second horse was tormented as were goats that were kept in a barn, court records show.
Chatham deputies first charged Joostema in early August with allowing animals to roam at large on the property, authorities reported.
More than 150 animals that were taken from the home in July were sent to rescue groups in North Carolina, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
Authorities removed the animals from a single mobile home and the surrounding property on Silk Hope Gum Spring Road. Along with cats and dogs, a 400-pound hog, poultry, horses and cows also were seized.
Chatham County Animal Services reported that some of the animals had medical issues, but none of them had died and none had to be euthanized in August when Joostema was first charged.
Chatham County health department and animal control officers tried working with Joostema for more than two years to improve conditions for the animals, Sheriff’s Capt. Doug Stuart reported in July.
Stuart was unavailable for comment to discuss the latest charges filed against Joostema.
The Apex woman remained in custody Sunday night at the Wake County jail. She is being held in lieu of a $62,000 bail, court records show.
Full name: Stephane Elizabeth Joostema
Block: 700 Lake Artesia Ln
City: Fuquay Varina, North Carolina 27526
Gender: Female
Arrest Age: 53
Arrest Date: 11/06/2015
Arresting Agency: APD
Arrest Location: 902 OLIVE ST. APEX, NC 27502
Arrest area: Wake County, North Carolina
Charges
- 27 COUNTS OF FELONY CRUELTY TO ANIMALS (CHATHAM).
Full Name: Constance Nicole Joostema-fara
Constance Joostema-Fara
Constance Joostema
Constance Fara
Block: 900 Olive St
City: Apex, North Carolina 27502
Gender: Female
Arrest Age: 22
Arrest Date: 11/07/2015
Arresting Agency: WCS
Arrest Location:3301 HAMMOND RD RALEIGH, NC
Charges
- #1 CRUELTY TO ANIMALS(M) (CHATHAM). STATUTE: 14-360(A)
(News Observer - November 8, 2015)
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