Connecticut: Elizabeth Schultz, the woman who hoarded 56 dogs in feces-soiled cages, received two years' probation and will be allowed to keep two dogs

CONNECTICUT -- Elizabeth M. Schultz, the woman, WHO WAS ALREADY A CONVICTED ANIMAL ABUSER, who harbored 56 dogs in feces-soiled cages, received two years' probation and will be allowed to keep two dogs, under a plea agreement reached Tuesday in Enfield Superior Court.

Schultz, 54, was charged with 60 counts of cruelty to animals after her dogs were found in houses in Enfield and Windsor Locks. Under the plea, she did not admit guilt but conceded there was enough evidence for convictions in two of the charges.

In exchange, Assistant State's Attorney John Malone dropped all of the remaining counts and about 50 other counts related to licensing and vaccinations before Judge Allen W. Smith issued the sentence.

"She has been a sick woman," Smith said.

Smith had to defend his sentence against criticism from Richard Johnston, president of the Connecticut Humane Society, who said Schultz should be barred from owning dogs at least until she successfully completes her probation.

"Everything to this date points to the fact that she cannot care for any animals," Johnston said. "I don't think there was due recognition of the rights of the animals involved."

Smith said Schultz's psychiatrist assured the court that Schultz can handle two dogs. The dogs will be neutered.

"I think emotionally it will probably help her," Smith said.

Under the agreement, Schultz's 88-year-old mother, Mary Schultz, will once again live with her. Mary Schultz was placed in a nursing home after police found her in the Enfield house.

Police on July 28 seized 56 dogs from houses in Enfield and Windsor Locks owned by Elizabeth Schultz. The dogs were stacked in soiled cages that had not been cleaned for months, said police, who also found nine dead dogs in freezers or refrigerators at the houses.

The stench (ammonia) in Schultz's Lox Lane home in Enfield was so bad that fierefighters had to wear air masks before entering to open windows.

Smith sentenced Schultz to one year in prison, suspended, with two years' probation. She had faced up to one year in jail on each cruelty count.

Under the conditions of probation, Schultz will be required to continue counseling for depression, refrain from breeding her dogs, and donate $100 to the Windsor Locks dog pound and $150 to the Enfield dog pound.

Schultz has called the dogs her "family" and said conditions in the cages deteriorated only when she was having trouble selling the dogs. She said she froze the carcasses only to preserve them while she saved money for coffins.

Schultz's attorney, Michael J. Devlin of Somers, said his client was never cruel to the dogs.

"There was never any indication that they were mistreated," he said. "It was just a case of keeping up with the housekeeping end of it. She had been treated for depression and everything just got to be too much.

"She doesn't deny that the conditions were not good," he said. "She was trying to do her best. Obviously her best wasn't enough to be able to keep up with the dogs."

No, she wasn't 'trying her best'. She is a hoarder. This is a mental condition. She needs to be forced to continue mental health counseling and she needs probation for 20 years to ensure she doesn't do this again. 

(Hartford Courant - September 8, 1993)

Earlier:

• Connecticut: Foul odors emanating from Elizabeth Schultz's home -- and her refusal to let the dog warden inspect it -- prompted police to arrest the convicted animal abuser this week 
• Connecticut: 51 Dogs, 6 Dead, Found In Elizabeth Schultz's House, Police Say
• Connecticut: Elizabeth Schultz says she does not understand why police are concerned about her treatment of the animals
• Connecticut: Elizabeth Schultz, 54, accused of mistreating dozens of dogs in two towns was charged Tuesday with 17 counts of cruelty to animals

Pennsylvania: Raymond Manness, 29, charged with animal cruelty; accused of killing a cockatoo by cooking it alive inside microwave

PENNSYLVANIA -- A Bartonsville man has been charged with cruelty to animals for killing a cockatoo by putting the exotic bird in a microwave and turning the oven on, Tamaqua police said yesterday.

The accused, Raymond Manness, 29, is also charged with attempting to kill two kittens in similar manner.

Someone in the house removed the kittens from the microwave before they were harmed, borough police said.

Manness has been cited for cruelty to animals, criminal mischief and two counts of criminal attempt to commit cruelty to animals.

The incidents took place at the home of John and Genevieve Hindermyer, 18 Spruce St., Tamaqua, on Monday night, police said.

A short time after the kittens were saved, Manness allegedly went into the living room and took one of two cockatoos from a cage and put it in the microwave in the kitchen, then turned it on, killing the bird.

Criminal complaints have been filed with District Justice Andrew Zelonis of Tamaqua who set a hearing on Sept. 2.

(The Morning Call - August 13, 1993)

Connecticut: Elizabeth Schultz, 54, accused of mistreating dozens of dogs in two towns was charged Tuesday with 17 counts of cruelty to animals

CONNECTICUT -- An Enfield woman accused of mistreating dozens of dogs in two towns was charged Tuesday with 17 counts of cruelty to animals.

Elizabeth M. Schultz, 54, who gives her home address as 11 Lox Lane in Enfield, was released on a $5,000 no-cash bond for an Aug. 10 appearance in Enfield Superior Court. She faces up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine on each count.

Police last week entered Schultz's West Street home in Windsor Locks and found 13 live dogs and two live cats in cages soiled 4 inches deep with feces. Police also found three dead dogs and a dead bird in the freezer.

Enfield police on Tuesday were preparing warrants to lodge similar charges against Schultz. At her Lox Lane home last week, police found 43 dogs stacked in cages soiled with urine and feces. Four dead dogs were found in the freezer and two more in the refrigerator, police said.

Schultz has said the rat terriers and chihuahuas, which she breeds, are her family because she has no husband or children.

She said conditions at her two houses began to deteriorate only recently because the cages are hard to clean and she was having trouble selling the dogs. She said she froze the carcasses to preserve them while she saved money for coffins.

Police in Enfield and Windsor Locks seized a total of 56 live dogs and are temporarily holding them in area animal shelters as evidence

(Hartford Courant - August 4, 1993)

Earlier:

• Connecticut: Foul odors emanating from Elizabeth Schultz's home -- and her refusal to let the dog warden inspect it -- prompted police to arrest the convicted animal abuser this week 
• Connecticut: 51 Dogs, 6 Dead, Found In Elizabeth Schultz's House, Police Say
• Connecticut: Elizabeth Schultz says she does not understand why police are concerned about her treatment of the animals

Connecticut: Elizabeth Schultz says she does not understand why police are concerned about her treatment of the animals

CONNECTICUT -- Elizabeth Schultz can't understand why such a fuss is being made over her "family" -- scores of dogs and puppies packed into filthy cages at her two houses in Enfield and Windsor Locks.

Schultz, who was found by police this week with 49 dogs in her Enfield home -- six of them dead in the freezer and refrigerator -- said in an interview Friday she does not understand why police are concerned about her treatment of the animals.

She has a mental condition and needed mandatory mental health counseling. Clearly, she does not understand the pain and torture she is inflicting on these animals, which suffer and die at her hands.

"They're my family," Schultz said as she sat in the front yard of her Enfield home at 11 Lox Lane. "I don't have a husband and I don't have any kids, so they're my kids. There is no way in the world I would hurt my kids."

Schultz said she has owned dogs for many years, but has been breeding them for only three years. She said conditions at her house began to deteriorate about six months ago, though officials said they received complaints as long ago as January 1991.

"Things creep up on you," she said. "The cages are hard to clean, and there's so many of them. I keep papers in there, but what can I say? I do the best I can."

Police say they expect to obtain arrest warrants for Schultz next week charging her with multiple counts of cruelty to animals.

Police were called to Schultz's Enfield house Wednesday night by a neighbor complaining about barking dogs. They found Schultz's 88-year-old mother, Mary Schultz, along with 43 live dogs -- police initially said 45 live dogs, but revised the number Friday. The dogs were stacked in cages soiled with feces and urine. Four dead dogs were found in the freezer and two more dead ones were in the refrigerator, police said.

A neighbor then told police that the Schultzes own a house in Windsor Locks. In the Windsor Locks house, at 5 West St., police found three dead dogs and a dead bird in the freezer, as well as 13 live dogs and two live cats in stacked cages soiled with feces.

Schultz said she kept the dead dogs in the freezer to preserve them while she saved money to buy coffins. "I had to put some in the refrigerator because the freezer was full," she said.

Schultz said she had planned to start a dog cemetery in the back yard of her Enfield house, but a friend told her it was illegal to bury dogs on the property. The puppies were stillborn, Schultz said. One of the adult dogs, named Hansel, died of a heart attack, she said.

A University of Connecticut pathologist who conducted autopsies on the dogs Thursday could not determine the cause of death, a university spokesman said. The results of further tests are expected in several weeks.

Meanwhile, the North Central District Health Department condemned both houses Friday, certifying that they are not fit for humans to live in. But Schultz, who is still staying in the Enfield house, said she plans to clean them.

Mary Schultz had lived in Windsor Locks, but she moved in with Elizabeth Schultz in Enfield about three years ago. Mary Schultz was taken to Johnson Memorial Hospital Wednesday, suffering from dehydration. She was listed in good condition there Friday.

A 54-year-old taxi dispatcher at Bradley International Airport, Elizabeth Schultz said she never meant to own so many dogs, but she was having trouble finding good homes for them.

Schultz runs a dog breeding business called Love's Puppy Inn, but she said she has sold only 10 dogs in three years. The dogs were well fed, she said, but there were so many that she could not keep the cages clean.

Police said the dogs were living in cages stacked throughout both houses, with as many as seven dogs to a cage. The windows in both houses were shut, forcing police to wear air masks to enter them.

"I can smell it, but it's like anything. You get used to it," Schultz said. "I would air out the place but then the neighbors would complain."

Schultz presented herself to Enfield police for questioning Friday morning. She was not accompanied by a lawyer and was interviewed for about three hours.

Enfield Dog Warden Fred Provencher said Schultz has cooperated, providing police with licensing and vaccination documents.

Enfield Police Sgt. Michael McMullen said the department would apply for an arrest warrant next week charging Schultz with multiple counts of cruelty to animals, a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of as much as $1,000 and a year in jail for each count.

Windsor Locks police Det. Rick Rachele said police there also expect to obtain an arrest warrant for Schultz by early next week.

More than 100 people have called the Enfield police station, wanting to adopt the dogs. But McMullen said the dogs, which are in pounds in Enfield, Suffield, Windsor Locks and Somers, cannot be adopted until arrangements are made with a Superior Court judge.

Schultz said she wants the dogs returned to her so she can screen prospective owners.

"I don't want my kids to go to just anybody," Schultz said.

(Hartford Courant - July 31, 1993)

Earlier:

• Connecticut: Foul odors emanating from Elizabeth Schultz's home -- and her refusal to let the dog warden inspect it -- prompted police to arrest the convicted animal abuser this week 
• Connecticut: 51 Dogs, 6 Dead, Found In Elizabeth Schultz's House, Police Say

Connecticut: 51 Dogs, 6 Dead, Found In Elizabeth Schultz's House, Police Say

CONNECTICUT --  A reclusive woman was found Wednesday with 51 dogs in her Lox Lane home -- including six dead ones in her refrigerator and freezer next to the food, police said.

Of the 45 small terriers that were alive, many were restrained in cages and appeared unhealthy before they were removed to kennels, police Sgt. Michael McMullen said.

The stench of dog feces in the house was so strong that Enfield firefighters donned air packs to open windows before police and dog officials could enter, police said. The temperature in the sealed-up house exceeded 100 degrees, police said.

"Why would you put a [dead] dog in the refrigerator?" police Lt. Carl Sferrazza asked. "It's kind of an incredible type of thing."

Police identified the woman who had the dogs as Elizabeth Schultz, 54, of 11 Lox Lane. Police said she lived with her mother, Mary Schultz, who was was taken to an area hospital and treated for dehydration. Elizabeth Schultz could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.

McMullen said the case is under investigation and no charges have been filed. Police said many of the dogs were puppies.

Neighbors described Schultz as a reclusive woman who breeded dogs. They said she works at Bradley International Airport, but spent the rest of her time inside with the dogs, never letting them outside.

Neighbors said they could smell the dog stench on the street when Schultz opened her windows -- which they said rarely happened.

Police said the house was sealed when they arrived after town Dog Warden Fred Provencher received a complaint about a barking dog. Officials from the Connecticut Humane Society, who arrived on the scene, could not be reached late Wednesday for comment.

The dead dogs were brought to a University of Connecticut veterinary school for examination, police said. The live ones were taken to dog pounds and by the humane society, police said

(Hartford Courant - July 29, 1993)

Earlier:

• Connecticut: Foul odors emanating from Elizabeth Schultz's home -- and her refusal to let the dog warden inspect it -- prompted police to arrest the convicted animal abuser this week 

Connecticut: Foul odors emanating from Elizabeth Schultz's home -- and her refusal to let the dog warden inspect it -- prompted police to arrest the convicted animal abuser this week

CONNECTICUT -- Foul odors emanating from Elizabeth Schultz's home -- and her refusal to let the dog warden inspect it -- prompted police to arrest the convicted animal abuser this week.

Schultz, 56, was arrested on a charge of violation of probation. She was convicted in 1993 of cruelty to animals after she was found harboring 56 dogs in feces-soiled cages.

Schultz received a one-year suspended sentence and 30 months' probation in the 1993 case. If convicted of violating her probation, she could be forced to serve the one-year jail term.

Schultz, who is free on bond, appeared in Enfield Superior Court Thursday, and her case was continued to Aug. 25. She declined to comment as she left the courthouse.

In two sworn affidavits seeking a warrant for her arrest, Enfield Animal Control Officer Fred Provencher said he repeatedly tried to inspect the inside of Schultz's Lox Lane house after neighbors complained of the conditions there. Under the terms of Schultz's probation, she must allow police officers to inspect her house.

On July 20, Provencher said, Schultz fled the house through the front door while he was knocking on the back door.

On July 21, Provencher and probation officer Cynthia Agyemang could hear more than one dog barking in the house, and could smell ``an overwhelming stench of ammonia/urine and feces'' emanating from the house, the affidavit says. The temperature was about 82 degrees, the doors were closed, all the windows were boarded up and no working air conditioner could be seen.

When police arrested Schultz Wednesday, firefighters had to air out the house so police could search it, but no dogs were found, police said.

In the 1993 case, Schultz was initially charged with 60 counts of cruelty to animals after her dogs were found in houses in Enfield and Windsor Locks. Police also found a total of nine dead dogs in freezers and a refrigerator in the two houses.

Under the conditions of probation, Schultz is allowed to own two dogs, and they must be spayed or neutered. She must undergo psychiatric counseling, refrain from breeding her dogs, and was required to donate $100 to the Windsor Locks dog pound and $150 to the Enfield dog pound.

(Hartford Courant - July 28, 1995)

Florida: "The overriding feeling of people in the community is she's disturbed" - Vikki Kittles, charged with 22 counts of animal cruelty, continues to hoard suffering animals

FLORIDA -- Quiet little Astoria, Ore. hasn`t been the same since former Broward resident Vikki Kittles arrived in town.

Vikki Rene Kittles (also known as Susan Dietrich, Rene Depenbrock, and Lynn Zellan), 45, is the woman arrested in 1985 at her mother`s Wilton Manors home on animal cruelty charges after police discovered the women's roommates were two horses, 37 dogs and three cats.

She left Broward County in 1988 only to draw attention again last month on the rural, northern Oregon coast with 117 dogs, four cats and two chickens squeezed into a school bus.

Now Kittles -- arrested on April 16 near Astoria, population 10,000 -- is charged with 22 misdemeanor counts of animal neglect.

The quiet and normalcy of Astoria has been disrupted by Kittles` appearance.

"She`s starting to lose it," said Clatsop County Sheriff`s Deputy Ed Rhoads. "She came in our parking lot (on Friday) and was ranting and raving."

Dan Carter, managing editor of the Daily Astorian, said, "She`s left four or five messages on my voice mail -- just rambling thoughts, really."

Such actions are familiar to those who encountered Kittles in Broward. She had several volatile enounters with police, claimed people were conspiring to kill her animals and routinely fired lawyers who represented her.

Kittles left South Florida in 1985 rather than go to trial on the animal abuse charges. She took her mother, Jean Sullivan -- and a lot of animals -- with her.


When Kittles was re-arrested in Manatee County in 1987, she returned to Broward to face animal abuse and other charges. Sullivan has never been heard from again -- a mystery that still baffles police, who think she is dead.

Kittles` sister-in-law, Carol Kittles of Kendall, hired a private detective to try to find Sullivan. The detective failed. Vikki Kittles has adamantly refused to discuss her mother with police.

Carol Kittles said she will not try to question Vikki Kittles about Sullivan, who if alive, would be in her late 70s.

"There's nothing I can do," she said. "She won`t speak to me, anyway."

Kittles could not be reached for comment. Directory assistance in Astoria has no telephone listing for her and it could not be determined where she is living.

Kittles spent about a week in jail on the Oregon charges before being released. Her animals were placed in a county animal shelter and a private kennel pending the outcome of her trial.

"We've gotten a lot of calls from people wanting to come down and adopt them," Rhoads said. Others have donated food and money.

Oregon authorities said Kittles picked up most of the dogs from a Mississippi shelter, supposedly" so they would not be killed". Then she drove to Colorado and Washington before ending up in Oregon.

"We`re finding out dogs died along the way," Rhoads said. One witness in Washington saw Kittles set the carcass of a dog on fire, he said.

Since her Oregon arrest, Vikki Kittles has fired three court-appointed attorneys. Now she must act as her own lawyer or hire one at her own expense.

She also has been banned from the animal shelter because she caused a ruckus during an earlier visit. At least two of her dogs have died from illnesses, and others have heartworms.

It is perhaps ironic that Kittles, the self-styled animal lover, is staying in Astoria. The town is named after John Jacob Astor, the fur magnate who established a fur trading post in the area.

"The overriding feeling of people in the community is she's disturbed," said Carter, the newspaper editor. "People aren't really amused by this whole thing. But she has had some supporters."

Kittles' next court appearance is scheduled for Friday, when she is expected to ask a judge to force the animal shelter to preserve the bodies of any of her animals that die in its custody.

(Sun Sentinel - May 3, 1993)