Workers, officials look back on worst hoarding case in Illinois

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ROCHELLE - Looking at the tan ranch house on Melugins Grove Road in rural Lee County, it is hard to imagine the chaos that erupted there a year ago.

Today, the house looks almost peaceful. Peeking out of a large mound of brush and sticks is a pile of discarded cat scratching posts. Several outdoor kennels surrounding the property are filled with weeds almost as tall as the house.

Last Oct. 10, though, the house was the epicenter of one of the largest animal-hoarding cases in Illinois history. In and around the home, nearly 300 dogs, cats, and birds were living in squalor.

Their owner, Barbara Munroe, had spun out of control. She was arrested and charged with animal cruelty.

On Oct. 10, 2002, Lee County Animal Control workers went to check on Munroe, with whom they had dealt with many times before. This time, she had failed to bring in 35 dogs for rabies vaccinations.

Once there, they noticed the deteriorating house, and dogs in outdoor kennels that appeared to be in bad shape.When they saw a dog peeking through one of the front windows, they contacted the Lee County State's Attorney for a warrant, and returned the next day with Lee County Sheriff's deputies and an investigator from the Department of Agriculture.

The dogs outside were dehydrated, malnourished and had various eye and skin problems. Rats were competing with the dogs for food.

Even from the outside, the house reeked of ammonia and feces. Several animals were living in three cars parked in the driveway.

The next day, a search of the house turned up 106 dogs, 160 cats and 31 birds.

There also were 200 carcasses in the basement, in bags and containers throughout the house, and in a refrigerator/freezer, according to court documents.

Munroe was arrested and charged with 8 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty, punishable by up to a year in jail, and two misdemeanor counts of violating owner's duties, punishable by up to 6 months in jail.

TAILS Humane Society volunteers began the four-day process of taking the animals to a shelter in DeKalb.

The case

A visibly confused Munroe made her first appearance in Lee County court on Oct. 15, and was ordered held on $35,000 bond. The next day, Assistant State's Attorney Andrew Bollman filed an emergency petition to have her involuntarily committed, citing a concern for her safety. She also was ordered to stay away from all animals.

On Oct. 23, Munroe voluntarily gave up custody of her animals, saying she wanted them to be adopted because she could not afford the $1,500 a week she said she was spending to feed them.

TAILS estimated it would cost nearly $138,000 a month to properly feed, treat and shelter the animals.

In November, the Ashton Veterinary Clinic sued Munroe for 7 years of unpaid bills. In January, she was ordered to pay almost $25,000, plus court costs and interest, to the clinic.

In January, Munroe was found unfit to stand trial. A re-evaluation was ordered in June; those results have not yet been filed, Bollman said.

He said he cannot comment on where Munroe, other than to say she's not in Lee County, and cannot say what, if any, treatment she is receiving.

Home uninhabitable

Once the animals were removed, the county began the arduous process of inspecting the house. Workers were choked by the smell of rotting flesh, feces and urine. Old dishes, clothes and rotting garbage filled the kitchen and bathroom. The Lee County Health Department began exterminating hundreds of rats.

"We had to determine whether the house was livable," said Tim Trader, director of Environmental Health. "At the time, it was pretty obvious that it wasn't."

There was mold, and no running water and or sewage disposal. The home was deemed in habitable.

The designation is merely "a piece of paper," and does not mean the house must be torn down, Trader said.

In May, Munroe's family began sanitizing the front of the house and removing some of the wire kennels and fences. Now they are working on the interior, and the progress has been remarkable, Bollman said.

Still, the county will have the final say as to whether the house can be lived in again, he said.

Happy TAILS

Because of the vast number of animals rescued, TAILS set up a temporary shelter in a DeKalb airplane hangar. About 200 volunteers came to help care for them. Veterinarians donated their services, and local pet stores helped with grooming and donated food, bedding, and other items.

TAILS director Beth Drake was grateful for the help.

"It's extremely heart-warming and very gratifying that the community mobilized and banded together to help," Drake said.

In all, the rescue cost the shelter $60,000 to $70,000, much of which was offset by donations and grant money.

Most of the animals were adopted or sent to sanctuaries.

The Munroe case helped shelter workers prepare for other such cases, she said.

"This is definitely the largest case we've ever dealt with," she said. "This may have been one of the largest in northern Illinois. Whenever you have experience with triaging a case of this size, it prepares you for other similar situations."

To deal with the stress and the emotional toll the rescue had, TAILS brought in psychiatrists for a "compassion fatigue" workshop.

"It took some time to decompress and sort through everything," Drake said. "One thing that really helped the staff is that they were able to follow the progress of the animals while they were treated until they were adopted out. It provided closure."

She harbors no ill feeling for Munroe.

"I know it must have been extremely uncomfortable living in that house," Drake said. "I think she made an attempt to take care of the animals and it just went way beyond what she could do.

"I think she is clearly an animal hoarder, but I don't think she's a bad person. Most animal hoarders have good intentions. The goal is not to torture, but they can get in way over their head."

Amending the law

Munroe's is not the first case of animal hoarding in Lee County. In 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.

To date, the two cases are the worst in Illinois history.

Before the Munroe case, Lee County required all dogs to be vaccinated and registered, and allowed owners up to five breedable females before they needed a kennel operator's license.

After the Munroe case, it was clear there needed to be changes, Bollman said.

In February, the Lee County Board amended the 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.

"This particular ordinance that passed can be used as a tool in case we run into a situation like this again," Bollman said.

In 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, but it still vague, Bollman said.

"If someone is determined to be an animal hoarder, there are two main issues - how do you petition the court to deem someone an animal hoarder, and then how to you retain jurisdiction over that person. Right now, it's not as well-written or tight as it should be.

"With hoarders, there is a 100 percent recidivism rate. The goal is to try to keep it from happening again."

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, however, 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