Donna Baker, 57 was in magistrate court on Friday and will have to pay more than $1400 in fines and court costs.
She is not allowed to own animals or have any contact with animals for the next 5 years.
All of the animals seized from her home have found homes with local people or animal rescues.
Original
Harrison County Humane Officer Lieutenant Greg Scolapio and animal control officers seized about half of nearly 200 rabbits from a residence in the Rock Camp area of Wallace on Friday.
"The rabbits were being kept in deplorable conditions, cages that hadn't been cleaned for months, with an accumulation of feces and urine in all the cages," said Scolapio.
Scolapio said after hearing that someone purchased a rabbit from the property that was apparently in bad health, he checked out the situation.
The weather caused some problems for the officers, so some rabbits are still left at the house.
"We've been able to take about 65 or 70 rabbits off of the location, but we ended up leaving over 100 rabbits on scene. We're going to try to get back there on Monday or Tuesday," said Scolapio.
Scolapio said the rabbits seem to be in good condition, and there are more than seven different breeds now at Harrison County Animal Control.
"We have an assortment: English Lop-ears, Holland Lop-ears, Lionheads, English Angora, Dutch, Jersey Woolies, Netherland Dwarfs, Havana's, and some mix breeds," explained Scolapio.
There are a few baby rabbits available as well.
All of those rabbits are in need of good homes, but staff at Eastern Pet Supply said you want to make sure you are ready for that responsibility by doing your research.
"Educate yourself, go online, find out all the information you need to know before you get any kind of animal. In bunnies, you need to check their paws and make sure they don't have sores, check their ears, check their spine and make sure they're not emaciated," explained David McClung, a staff member at Eastern Pet Supply.
Scolapio agreed that even though they need a good home, it should be to someone who is prepared. He also said some of the rabbits may be pregnant.
"They assume all responsibility for the bunnies once they take them, it's their responsibility. When they come to pick up a rabbit if they would want one bring a pet porter, bring a box, bring something to transport the rabbit off the property," Scolapio said.
The rabbits will be up for free adoption.
Scolapio said the woman who had the rabbits will face charges.
You can call Harrison County Animal Control for more information about adoption at 304-592-1876.
(WVIllustrated - Oct 5, 2015)
No comments:
Post a Comment