27 dogs found in filthy Yorkville trailer

By Janine Anderson

Wednesday, March 28, 2007 2:18 AM CDT

Journal Times

YORKVILLE - Countryside Humane Society took in 27 new dogs Sunday night after they were found crammed in a filthy trailer.

Most of the dogs were packed three to a crate; six were stuck in a small bathroom. Some had water dishes, but there was no water in any of their cages. All of them were covered with feces.

The Racine County Sheriff's Department found the trailer at The Storage Place, 19031 Spring St., and called for assistance from the county's humane officer at 7 p.m. Sunday. After receiving permission from the trailer's owner to go in, the officers opened the trailer and saw the animals.

The trailer was being leased to a Union Grove woman, who agreed to voluntarily surrender the dogs to Countryside. The voluntary surrender does not prevent the woman from being criminally charged; Countryside will be forwarding information to the District Attorney's office within the next few days.

Humane Officer Randy Lansbery met a deputy at the site and they used a pry bar to get into the trailer.

"The stench just came out," he said.

Once they got inside they found seven carriers, each with three dogs inside.

"There were about three to seven days of feces in there," he said. "Some had water bowls, but they were full of feces. There was no water. All the dogs were covered in feces. It was terrible."

The dogs were not the only problem in the trailer.

"There was one skinny walkway down the middle," Lansbery said. "There was debris, old clothes, cans, garbage stacked 6 feet high. The windows were closed. The stench was incredible. You couldn't even breathe."

They took photographs of the trailer, seized the dogs and brought them to Countryside.

Since Sunday, Countryside workers have been working to clean the dogs. The worst is over, but they will need multiple baths to get rid of the smell that lingers on their fur.

Maggie Skovera, an animal health care attendant at Countryside, has spent the past two days caring for the animals.

"They came in with dreadlocks of poop," she said. "There was a cocker spaniel that had a pound on each ear."

She said the dogs have eye irritation from the ammonia in the trailer. One dog is missing half its tongue; another will have to have an eye removed.

"Most are in pretty good physical shape now," she said. "But mentally, they've never walked on a hard surface. If you put a leash on them, they scream. None are house trained. The defecated where they lived."

Skovera expects the dogs to need significant rehabilitation through rescue homes before they could be adopted.

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