PENNSYLVANIA -- Beaver County humane officer Jak McGown will never forget finding the hole.
It was dug out in the backyard of a home he was investigating for animal abuse. The dog in question was very skinny, tied outside without food and water.
When he asked the owner why there was a hole, the man told McGown that was where the dog would ultimately end up.
"We're just waiting for him to die. He'll fall in there and we'll cover it up," McGown recalled the man telling him.
Three humane officers in the county investigate, cite and prosecute violations of the state's animal cruelty laws every day, receiving at least 30 tips about abuse every month.
Animal abuse
When it comes to animal abuse, McGown has seen his worst nightmares. Skinny animals, obese animals, animals that were injured to the point where they couldn't walk and weren't taken to the vet -- McGown said he's seen it all.
According to the Humane Society of the United States, animal cruelty and neglect happen in both rural and urban areas. Cruelty toward animals is often correlated with other crimes, including domestic violence. Those who abuse animals are "predominately" male and under age 30, according to the humane society.
Abuse of animals often goes hand-in-hand with abuse of women and children.
"If you have the capability, or the brain incapability, to abuse people of any kind, you're going to abuse animals," McGown said. "You're going to abuse anything that comes in contact with you. It's an ego thing, I think."
McGown once walked into a house and found six children living with no furniture, lying on "filthy, filthy" mattresses, he said. They were all under 4 years old and "had flies and fleas all over them."
In another situation, McGown found three children living in a home without heat, filled with garbage.
"That's the kind of stuff we see," McGown said.
Beaver County Humane Society Executive Director Susan Salyards said humane investigators work well with other agencies, like Children and Youth Services, when they find abuse and neglect of people while investigating animal issues.
"(The) same people that neglect their kids will neglect their animals and vice versa," McGown said.
The most commonly reported abused animals are dogs, cats, horses and other livestock, according to the Humane Society of the United States.
McGown said abuse is seasonal. In the warm months, the humane society mostly investigates abuse of dogs and cats, especially dogs that are tied up outside without access to water or shelter. In the winter, officers still investigate complaints related to dogs and cats, but they also see an uptick in abuse of livestock and farm animals.
As for livestock abuse, McGown said investigators look at the animal's body weight; make sure it has a food, water and shelter; and inspect general field conditions.
McGown said Pennsylvania has some cruelty law exemptions for farm animals used for profit, which are set by the state Department of Agriculture. For example, beef cattle raised to be sold for meat are permitted to be castrated in a way that would be considered inhumane for a non-moneymaking animals, McGown said.
Also, calves raised for veal meat are kept in crates to limit their movement in order to keep their meat tender. This is not a violation of the state cruelty law, although it would be in most other situations.
"That's not considered inhumane by legal standards because they're making money," Salyards said.
Humane investigators don't see a lot of abuse on larger moneymaking farms. More often it’s livestock owners who have only one or two animals. McGown calls them "backyard farmers." His goal is to educate those people about the laws and the best way to care for their animals.
"It's not necessarily cruelty, because they don't understand," he said.
Every animal is unique in how officials investigate cases of abuse and neglect, said humane society officer Mary Sparks.
"Unfortunately, we can only enforce the laws; we cannot enforce our opinions," McGown said.
Humane officers say it's frustrating at times. If a dog is tied up outside 24/7, rarely having human contact but with access to shelter, food and water, there is legally nothing the humane society can do.
"We're in this job because we love animals, and somebody has to be an advocate or a voice for the animals, and that is part of our duties to make sure we allow them at least what the law allows them to have," Sparks said.
Education is a big part of the humane officer's job.
"We always try to educate the people, because if you go straight in and cite the people, you're not teaching them anything and you're not benefiting the animal," McGown said.
It has been difficult for agencies like the humane society to get definitive statistics about the prevalence of animal abuse because cases have not been formally compiled by the state or federal government.
That will change in January as the FBI's Uniform Crime Report has been amended to include animal abuse cases. The UCRs will look at neglect, intentional abuse and torture, organized abuse and animal sexual abuse, according to the humane society.
Investigations
Humane officers often find cruelty, abuse and neglect through tips made to their call center, website and Facebook page, said humane society officer Nick Vorrias.
McGown said people in the community often recognize the officers and sometimes mention issues they have seen in their neighborhoods.
"And we do appreciate that, because if it wasn't for them, we wouldn't know," he said.
After they receive a tip, officers visit the location and investigate to see if there are any legal violations.
Sparks said the department receives different types of tips and calls. For example, a "vindictive" call is one in which the caller has a personal grudge against an animal owner and is "just throwing things out," said Sparks.
There's also the "well meaning" call, she said. This could be a person who sees an animal not being attended to, but investigators find the animal actually has all of its needs met and cannot do anything.
"Then there's the actual call where we really need to be there because there is an abuse, a neglect, a cruelty taking place," Sparks said.
That call leads to educating the animal owner, checking up on them and potentially citing and prosecuting.
There is also the call that is never made, Sparks said. "This is one of the most heartbreaking of all," she said.
In this case, neighbors or friends know there is abuse taking place, but are afraid to get involved.
"The poor animal just suffers in silence," Sparks said.
Sometimes when the department receives a tip but finds no violations, the residence is placed on a list of places to follow up on.
When a violation is found, the animal owner is given a week to comply with the law, McGown said.
"If nothing has been done, I will issue you a warning," he said.
That could be verbal or a written warning, McGown explained. If no progress is made after three days of that, a citation is issued. The department prosecutes its own cases before a district judge.
The Beaver County Humane Society has gone so far as to take a case to the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1990s, McGown said. The case, related to an abuse in New Brighton, was won by the department, he said.
Handling hoarding
According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, when a pet owner houses more animals than he can adequately care for, it is considered a hoarding situation. The organization formally defines hoarding as "an inability to provide even minimal standards of nutrition, sanitation, shelter and veterinary care -- often resulting in animal starvation, illness and death."
Sparks said hoarding itself is not a crime in Pennsylvania, though the number of animals a person houses can be regulated by municipal ordinances.
"It's the conditions that accompany the hoarding that is the issue -- the filth, the animals not being cared for," she said.
An estimated 900 to 2,000 cases of hoarding are reported throughout the country each year, with about 25,000 animals affected, according to the ASPCA. Animals saved from hoarding situations include cats, dogs, reptiles, rodents, birds, and sometimes exotic and farm animals. Hoarders are predominately female and over the age of 60, according to the Humane Society of the United States.
Salyards said research shows hoarding animals is often connected to mental illness.
According to the ASPCA, people who hoard animals often believe they are helping their pets and deny neglect.
Sparks believes hoarding often starts with an animal owner who has a "kind heart."
"Before you know it, they get overwhelmed," she said.
However, not every pet owner who houses multiple animals is hoarding them or failing to provide proper care. The ASPCA outlines several indications of hoarding, including the pet owner not knowing exactly how many animals are in his care, having a deteriorated home that may smell of ammonia and feces, being isolated from family and friends, and having fleas and vermin in the home.
Hoarders often insist their animals are happy and healthy even when they are clearly in distress, according to the ASPCA.
The Beaver County Humane Society sees a varied number of hoarding cases in a given year. Sometimes it's as little as one noncompliant offender; sometimes it's more than four.
When investigating such cases, people are asked if they are willing to allow the humane society to offer some of the animals for adoption. If they refuse, a majority of the animals will be confiscated, she said.
Sometimes it's so traumatic to them to lose all of their animals, so if they are willing to clean up the hoarding, they are allowed to keep two or three of the animals, she said. The department then follows up with the offender to make sure they haven't accumulated more animals.
(
Beaver County Times - Dec 30, 2015)
