By Loren Drummond
Their bellies are full and their cages are clean. They have blankets and toys. Many of them get antibiotics for infections and medicine for heartworms—when not getting showered with affection. They are the remaining 350 dogs on the property of Every Dog Needs a Home (EDNAH), where late last month, the Baxter County Sheriff's Department seized an estimated 477 dogs from Tammy Hanson and her husband, William, who were charged with one count each of animal cruelty.
The HSUS, deputized by the sheriff's department to care for the animals for the duration of the case, has been leading emergency sheltering operations ever since the seizure. The HSUS has been overseeing the care of the animals after the couple was arrested, charged, released on bond, and banned from the property.
But while the dogs are in good hands, and their conditions continue to improve, the dogs' fate remains in legal limbo. Hanson has not agreed to relinquish the 350 dogs to shelters, apparently willing to accept the fate of the Arkansas legal system in her effort to hang on to the animals.
Legal Limbo
Tammy Hawley, a program coordinator for the Southwest Regional Office and a veteran of Katrina and Rita, has been serving as incident commander of the emergency sheltering team for nearly three weeks. Even with four children and animals of her own in Texas, she plans on spending the Thanksgiving holiday in Arkansas. She is committed to making sure that the dogs are well cared for day in and day out, as the case winds its way through various legal twists and turns.
| Sheltering the Victims |
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Properly sheltering 350 animals takes more than 20 trained animal handlers and volunteers— each working all day—to accomplish the task.
Aside from feeding, watering, and cleaning the cages, these handlers and volunteers have built dozens of additional dog runs, and separated the animals into pairs and threesomes—making sure that temperament and sexes match. They have also built separate medical and maternity wards.
When they started working, the sheltering team found that on average, six to ten dogs had been penned together without regard to aggressive tendencies, spay or neuter status, or health problems. In one large pen, as many as 50 animals had been found together, with only two dog houses for shelter.
The dogs now receive medicine and veterinarian care. They have been microchipped and photographed. They have chew toys and clean blankets in their pens. They have tarps and clean doghouses to stay out of the sun and rain.
But perhaps most importantly, they have dozens of human hands petting and grooming them, keeping them safe. |
Hawley, with a rock-steady demeanor and a gentle drawl, has been negotiating with Hanson for the release of more than 100 dogs, many of which Hanson acquired after Hurricane Katrina from rescuers who apparently did not know the conditions at Hanson's property, where law enforcement found more than 50 dogs running loose and many more crammed together in cages that were exposed to the often harsh Arkansas elements.
Those Katrina dogs have since been removed from the property and taken to shelters, where they have been photographed and posted on Petfinder.com or Petharbor.com so that their owners have a chance of reuniting with them. But on the question of relinquishing the remaining 350 animals, Hanson apparently won't budge, leaving the dogs in a legal limbo and leaving them on her property, where they must remain until the case is closed. The problem with that is the property is not equipped for sheltering 350 dogs through the rough winter months—not without an expensive build-out.
Hawley said she has been having a hard time convincing Hanson that one or two people can't care for hundreds of animals, especially on a site with no bathrooms or permanent housing for humans or animals.
"She just doesn't understand that she can't handle the number of animals that she takes on," said Hawley.
Building a Cruelty Case
Hawley has been joined by a national team of HSUS professionals and responders from United Animal Nations' Emergency Animal Rescue Service (EARS), who are working with local authorities to ensure justice for all, particularly for the animals involved in this case. Suzi Hansen, program coordinator for the Northern Rockies Regional Office, who worked on the 2003 Camp Collie cruelty case in Montana, has been called in to assist the sheriff's department in the case. Likewise, Inga Gibson, program coordinator for the Pacific Northwest Regional Office, has been conducting research for the case.
Conviction is important, said Hawley, because the conviction becomes part of the public record. Hawley says, "The sheriff is also committed to obtaining a conviction."
Really, one of the goals here is to make sure that all the dogs involved in the case find a better future. One way to do that is to convince Hanson to surrender the 350 dogs. But it appears that the small penalties available under Arkansas law for a misdemeanor count of animal cruelty—up to one year in prison and up to $1,000 in fines—are not stiff enough to sway Hanson to release the animals.
Which is why the prosecuting attorney may bring additional charges against Hanson—one for each dog, if possible.
The team has built a case for each animal by documenting and detailing any health problems that the animals may have suffered, whether chronic issues like ulcers or a lack of grooming and care that could have contributed to the animals’ poor condition. Two dozen animals were at the veterinary clinic with pressing medical needs, said Hawley.
Those two dozen animals may currently be in the vet’s hands, but all 350 dogs are still in the grasp of a legal system that is trying to juggle simultaneous goals: serve justice and serve the animals who face a long winter on Hanson’s property.
Loren Drummond is associate editor of www.hsus.org.
