The 192 rabbits, 25 goats, 10 cats, 21 chickens, four dogs and a duck were confiscated Tuesday morning from a woman’s property in the 1300 block of Parkway Drive near St. Clair, Mo., the Humane Society said. The rabbits, cats and dogs were being driven to the Humane Society’s St. Louis headquarters while the goats, chickens and duck were being taken to the Humane Society’s Longmeadow Rescue Ranch in Union.
The animals were living in dirty and dangerous conditions without shelter from the cold, the Humane Society said. Rabbits were kept in raised wire-bottom cages with feces piled inside as well as up to a foot below the cages.
The goats appeared to be suffering from respiratory problems while the cats and other animals were living in dirty conditions in a home on the property, the Humane Society said.
The property is the same one where more than 150 sick rabbits and other animals were seized in February 2010. Franklin County prosecutors made an agreement not to charge the property owner if she agreed not to have any animals other than her two pet dogs, some goats and rabbits. That probation ended in February 2012. It was not clear if the woman violated that agreement or if she accumulated the animals since the end of the agreement.
Authorities did not identify the property owner.
Signs posted near the entrance to her property advertised the availability of “fryer rabbits,” as well as mini lop-eared rabbits and pygmy billy goats.
Rescuers with the Humane Society’s Animal Cruetly Task Force along with Franklin County sheriff’s deputies entered the property early Tuesday morning after obtaining a search warrant. A tipster concerned about conditions on the property alerted authorities.
A hearing has been set for 1:30 p.m. Dec. 4 at the Franklin County Courthouse to determine what happens to the animals. If the Humane Society gets custody of the animals, many will be made available for adoption.
(STLtoday.com - Nov 12, 2013)
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