Animal hoarding cases relatively new in Muscatine County
By DAVID HOTLE – Muscatine Journal, Iowa (TNS)
While cases of animal hoarding in Muscatine County are not common, the number is on the rise, with area law enforcement seeing about two cases a year, said Muscatine Police animal control officer Courtney Patel.
She said every case of animal hoarding she has seen is different. In fact, there is no set number of animals people are allowed to own, according to Muscatine County law. There are cases when an owner can have as many animals as they want and they are able to care for them, while in other cases, one animal is too many for some people. She said cases with large numbers of animals are relatively new in Muscatine County.
“I think there are a lot of different things that occur when people collect a large number of animals,” Patel said.
People often don’t feel the need to ask for help or don’t know what resources exists to help, Patel said.
She said local animal rescues and animal control officers are always willing to help animal owners find low cost spay and neuter clinics. In some cases the problem begins because pets have a litter and it goes from there.
Dangers of animal hoarding can include impacts on the animals, malnutrition, overcrowding. And owner neglect. Impacts on humans can include unsanitary conditions, diseases found in the animals and self-neglect.
Recently Muscatine County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Kelly Adams and have charged her with violating pretrial release after 23 animals were seized from her property and four more were found deceased. The animals were located inside the residence. She remains in the Muscatine County Jail in lieu of a $30,500 bond. She has a hearing Monday to request she be released on her own recognizance.
The investigation remains ongoing and further charges are possible.
In June, deputies using a warrant found 63 animals living on her property. Most of the animals were located inside the home, which was declared unsafe for human occupancy due to the sanitary conditions inside. She was charged with 67 counts of animal neglect, including six charges of neglect causing injury or death. As part of her release, she was prohibited from owning animals. She was also required to inform the court of any changes in her address or who resides with her.
In both cases, the animals were taken in by It Takes A Village Animal Shelter. The shelter reported it hasn’t gotten all the animals from the first search warrant adopted. It also said in a social media post the total animals received by the shelter in 2024 from Adams is 90, with 10 more of Adams’ animals deceased.
According to the National Institutes of Health, animal hoarding is considered a specific sign of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Pet hoarding, also called “Noah Syndrome,” is keeping a higher than usual number of animals as pets without the ability to properly house or care for them. Compulsive hoarding can be a symptom of a mental disorder rather than deliberate cruelty toward animals, although it does not have its own diagnosis. Hoarders typically cannot comprehend they are harming their pets by failing to provide them with the proper amount of care.
Meagan Koeller, president of ITAV, is concerned the laws in Iowa governing pets aren’t sufficient to keep situations like this from happening.
“In Iowa we have such massive hurdles when it comes to getting things prosecuted and getting charges to stick and having meaningful consequences,” she said. “When you are talking about what would make it a felony, when there are two separate occasions that result in the death of an animal, that is enough for a felony.”
She explained Iowa is “notorious” for having the worst animal welfare laws in the nation. In every other state, animal torture is an automatic felony. Iowa is the only state where that is not the case.
“It isn’t that Iowa isn’t humane when it comes to companion animals,” Koeller said. “It’s that there is big agriculture in Iowa and they are so concerned that any companion animal laws we make are going to translate to agricultural animals. So, they are never going to stop trying to keep those laws from becoming more strict.”
Koeller commented that no farmers would sanction this kind of treatment any more than anyone else. She said they would be shocked that the treatment of companion animals is not taken more seriously.
ITAV is currently fundraising to help offset the additional expense the animals have caused and, as of Sunday afternoon, have raised $856. The shelter reported most of the animals are special need due to injury and poor health, which the shelter is not set up for. Koeller said there may be further loss of life, but there will also be loss of limb.
Links to accounts where money can be donated to ITAV are:
https://account.venmo.com/u/ItTakesAVillageAnimalRescue
https://www.paypal.com/donate/…
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19h8fE28up
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