Charlie gets another chance
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| Charlie, a blind beagle mix who was adopted from the DeKalb TAILS shelter where he arrived after a hoarding incident nearly 2 years ago, uses his nose to track a squirrel at his new home in Lombard. (Rob Winner/rwinner@shawnews.com ) |
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LOMBARD – Charlie has had many names and many homes, and has faced many seemingly insurmountable challenges.
But the young, blind beagle mix has beat the odds and finally found a place to belong: The home of Kim and Fred Dale in Lombard, where he ran about Friday in search of his favorite squeaky toy.
Charlie has not always had the luxury of toys, or attentive owners like the Dales. He was the last pup to be adopted of 107 that were rescued from a rural Lee County animal hoarder whose animals were seized 2 years ago.
The more than 100 dogs, 160 cats and 30 birds owned by 65-year-old Barbara Munroe were taken into custody Oct. 12, 2007, by TAILS Humane Society in DeKalb. It took 4 days to remove all the animals, and about 200 were found dead in and around the house as well.
The Lee County Health Department condemned Munroe’s home near Rochelle, calling it “unfit for human habitation.”
Munroe was charged with eight counts of animal cruelty and two counts of failure of duty of a companion animal owner. She pleaded not guilty to the charges, but a motion to dismiss them was filed in November 2008 after a doctor deemed her psychologically unfit to withstand trial, according to court documents.
“Hoarding situations are not uncommon,” said Beth Drake, executive director for TAILS. “We deal with them three or four times a year, but usually they aren’t that big.”
With the help of the TAILS staff and heightened community awareness, all of Munroe’s animals have found homes. Charlie was the last to find a home.
Blind, incontinent and timid, he was returned to TAILS by adopters three times before landing at the Dales in January.
Last week, Kim Dale recalled seeing Charlie’s picture on the TAILS Web site.
“It would disappear for a while and then come back,” she said. “Then I thought to myself, ‘We’ll take him.’ I can see why he was the last, because he is a lot of work. But I’m so glad we took him.”
Charlie now lives in their cozy Lombard home, alongside two other shelter dogs, Heidi and Moose. The three now mingle happily, but it took some time for Charlie to come around, the Dales said.
“When we first got him, he was completely shut down,” Kim Dale said. “He had no personality at all. He was 100 percent freaked out.”
Charlie didn’t bark for a few months, and he still has a problem with incontinence while in his cage. But he’s better.
“He’s still evolving,” Fred Dale said. “I think [Kim and I] both had tears in our eyes the first time we saw him wag his tail.”
It’s not uncommon for rescue animals to have a tough time transitioning into a normal household.
Munroe’s cats, dogs and birds were living in terrible conditions – most were malnourished because they were given little food and water and the majority of the cats were kept in a basement with no natural light.
“In the end, the vast majority have done very well,” Drake said. “In part it’s because people were trying harder with these guys. They knew about their history, because we made it very clear what they had been through, so people knew they were going to go through some difficult times.”
TAILS staff and volunteers were unable to save about 10 percent of Munroe’s animals, Drake said, but most made a full recovery.
Munroe minimized the number of communicable diseases among her pets by vaccinating them, Drake said.
Most of the animals were purebreds, so there was a lot of community interest in adopting them, she added.
“Most hoarding cases we face are not as sensational as Barbara Munroe’s,” Drake said. “That really did help us capture the attention of the community. We had an outpouring of financial assistance and help from the community in order to accomplish what we did.”
The Dales are grateful to have the chance to care for Charlie, they said. After he had lived with three other families, the Dales know Charlie is in their home to stay.
He has a daily routine, and “he seems to really be able to appreciate being able to anticipate what’s coming next,” Kim Dale said.
“You can really see him coming to life. He’s much more animated than he was when we first got him, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Two worst hoarding cases in state were in Lee
2001
Illinois became the first state to pass a law that addresses animal hoarding. It defines what constitutes animal hoarding and recommends psychiatric treatment for offenders.
2003
Tiffany Anne McCoy, of Amboy, was arrested and charged with 12 counts of cruelty to animals after 209 dogs and puppies were found malnourished and abandoned in their cages. It was the worst case of hoarding in Illinois history, until Barbara Munroe was arrested with almost 300 animals in October 2007.
February 2008
The Lee County Board amended its animal control ordinance, adding a public nuisance rule. Now anyone who has more companion animals in their homes than can be maintained without presenting a health or safety hazard, or whose pets constitute a nuisance to the homeowner or surrounding neighbors, can be charged.
About hoarding
Animals hoarding is a compulsion. Hoarders:
■ Have more than the typical number of companion animals.
■ Are unable to provide even minimal standards of nutrition, sanitation, shelter and veterinary care, which can lead to starvation, illness or even death.
■ Are in denial about their inability to provide care and the impact of that failure on the animals, themselves and their homes.
■ The stereotype of an animal hoarder is that of a single, older, socioeconomically disadvantaged woman who lives alone, but in reality, hoarding travels across age, gender and economic boundaries.
■ In some cases, hoarders have been found among health professionals and veterinarians and veterinary technicians.
Source: Pet abuse.com and The Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium
