Pekin police say Cora Belk, 75, was arrested for alleged cruel treatment of an animal.
Belk was identified as “Peggy” on the Jan. 31 episode of “Hoarders” which depicted remains of birds, turtles and dogs in cages in her home at 1319 S. 12th Street in Pekin.
The episode was filmed in November.
Pekin police say they were unaware of the animals until contacted by viewers of the program the day after the show aired.
That despite a code enforcement officer also appeared on the program describing the remains and other unsanitary conditions he saw in the house. And a friend of Belk’s, identified as “Kim,” claiming to have notified the fire department which went through the house with a “city inspector.”
“This is a sensitive issue,” Pekin Public Information Officer Mike Eeten tells 1470 & 100.3 WMBD, “and one that allows, by statute, in the future some possible help for (Belk).”
“Hoarding itself is not illegal necessarily, but when it involves the risk of life or the health of an animal, or another person, then obviously that’s something we get involved with.”
Belk is scheduled to appear in Tazewell County Court March 1.
Pekin Code Enforcement Officer Ron Sieh, who spoke on the program, has been placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation.
MEANWHILE, Pekin’s Code Enforcement Officer is on administrative leave.
Ron Sieh appeared on the Jan. 31 episode of A&E’s “Hoarders.” He described dead animals he found in a home at 1319 S. 12th Street in Pekin.
“There was (sic) lots of bird cages and no live birds,” Sieh is heard saying during the program. “And then also dead turtles and dead dogs.”
The house was occupied by a woman identified on the program as “Peggy.”
“For her life and safety it was better to post the house, then remove her from the premises,” Sieh said on the program.
The program also depicted a woman named “Kim” who identified herself as a “friend” of “Peggy’s” who said she called the fire department which went through the house with a “city inspector.”
The program was filmed in Pekin in November.
Pekin police announced Tuesday it was launching a criminal investigation since police did not know about the dead animals until the day after the program aired.
“There are several factors in play here,” Pekin Public Information Officer Mike Eeten told 1470 & 100.3 WMBD, “and those are all issues we are looking into right now. There are issues we are going to get answers to.”
(1470 WMDB - Feb 11, 2016)
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