No charges forthcoming for people accused of hoarding Chihuahua mixes

Apr. 24—No charges are currently forthcoming for the adults living on the run-down Socorro County property where a team of organizations rescued 98 Chihuahua mixes last week, according to a local official.

Gail Tripp, Socorro County's emergency services administrator, told The New Mexican on Wednesday the county won't be filing charges because of the animals' relative health, and pointed out an ongoing investigation involving the New Mexico Aging and Long-Term Services Department's Adult Protective Services team.

"The statement from the animal control officer [was] that they appeared to be in reasonable health," Tripp said. "They weren't sickly or skinny from not eating; there was plenty of food and water. ... Our goal ... would be to remove the animals and get them into better living conditions."

It's a decision several New Mexico animal shelters and foster networks involved with the rescue described as disappointing.

"A lot of the animals were not socialized at all," said Keenan Foster, co-founder and director of the East Mountain Companion Animal Project, which helped coordinate the rescue. "They haven't been eating properly. ... The house is borderline very close to possibly needing to be condemned."

Many or all of the adult female dogs found on the property were either pregnant or had recently given birth, including some estimated to be as old as 15 years.

"When you have that many pregnant moms who've had multiple litters, it's just not healthy or safe at all," Foster said.

The exact situation that gave rise to the rescue operation remains unclear. Tripp said her office got involved after an Adult Protective Services inquiry was already underway involving an adult living on the property in Veguita, a rural community about halfway between Los Lunas and Socorro. While advocates involved with the rescue previously said three adults were living on the property, Tripp said Wednesday she couldn't confirm that.

After a large number of dogs were discovered, animal rescue organizations and local officials descended on the sprawling property April 18 for an operation advocates described as a voluntary surrender. Ninety-eight dogs of varying ages were taken from the property and farmed out to shelters and foster homes across Central and Northern New Mexico.

Advocates involved said they believe the property was home to a breeding operation of sorts that got out of control, and that hoarding behavior was also involved.

Julie King, intake coordinator for Lap Dog Rescue of New Mexico, said she would hope citations would be issued for cruelty and neglect.

"That number of dogs cannot be cared for properly with nutrition, vetting [and socialization]," King said in a text.

Officials and advocates say investigating animal hoarding cases can be a challenge both because of the complicated nature of animal neglect when it stems from a mental health problem and because of a dearth of training and resources.

"There is a lack of follow-through and there's not a lot of information for law enforcement or for prosecutors about how to investigate and how to prosecute," said First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies. "... I think it's too bad because it seems like we're seeing more and more of these hoarder-type cases and we need to have this awareness."

Flexibility versus follow-through

Carmack-Altwies hasn't ever prosecuted a hoarding case herself but said she recently got involved with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals' efforts to train attorneys and law enforcement on handling animal neglect, abuse and hoarding cases.

She said it's important for officials to be educated on the best way to prosecute cases that involve hoarding-related disorders.

"If somebody is mistreating animals, they need to be held accountable for that," Carmack-Altwies said. "But the end result is not necessarily prison. It's mental health services. It's animal health services. It's [getting] that behavior to stop."

Carmack-Altwies said prosecution is important because cases like the one in Socorro County end up overwhelming local resources.

Animal control officers or other local officials often have a lot of leeway when dealing with hoarding behaviors on the ground, said Alan Edmonds, cruelty response and advocacy director for Animal Protection New Mexico.

"If the person is being cooperative, then you don't necessarily take a hard line," he said. "If the person's being a complete jerk or being ... worse than uncooperative, then you can deploy everything you've got."

That type of flexibility can be a positive. But it can also leave a gray area when it comes to follow-up, which matters because a person with a hoarding disorder is highly likely to return to that way of living, Edmonds said.

King said she was recently involved in trying to resolve a hoarding situation in another part of the state.

"The shelter there had NO oversight and the dogs began breeding all over again," she wrote.

Hoarding cases also have human health effects, Carmack-Altwies said.

"Being around all these animals with the fur and the feces and maybe decomposing ... dead animals ... that is just destroying their health," she said.

Tripp said there's also a question of resources in rural communities. Socorro County, for example, has a single animal control officer.

"I have one man that covers 6,600 square miles," Tripp said. "And he does everything he can to make sure that the animals are taken care of."

Dogs' conditions

The Veguita dogs are faring better this week, according to some of the advocates now overseeing their care. Of the 10 dogs staying at the Española Humane shelter, eight have already been adopted, said spokeswoman Mattie Allen.

"We've had a beautiful community response," Allen said. "People are so interested in reaching out to help us and help these Chihuahuas."

Since Monday, the rescues have been undergoing dental surgery and sterilization.

Allen said it appeared much of the dogs' diet consisted of corn.

"Their body condition is not terrible," Allen said. "They're not emaciated ... but their skin and their fur is very dry and coarse and you can just tell that they're not healthy."

Some of the dogs have also had "luxating patellas," or kneecaps that pop off, but Allen said they've been deemed too old for surgery and said they're expected to manage the condition.

"They'll limp around on three legs and sort of pop it back into place themselves," she said.

One of the 10-year-old dogs, now named Sleepy, also had a cast and splint put on after shelter staff noticed him holding his front left paw in the air.

"It was pretty clear his foot had been crushed," Allen said. "... All his metacarpals are broken."

Sleepy is now available for adoption, and Española Humane has committed to covering care for that injury for his adoptive family.

An 11th, "very pregnant" mother of about 10 years old named Pop-Tart, meanwhile, was awaiting the birth of her litter at Allen's own house Wednesday.

Foster, of the East Mountain Companion Animal Project, said of the dogs being cared for by the organization's foster network, six pregnant mothers have delivered a collective 17 puppies, while nine more are expecting soon.

One older mother of about 15 years had to have a C-section because she was too small and frail to handle the delivery.

"She's doing much better now," Foster said. "She's back in her foster home. ... She's eating and she's getting better."

Foster said he's grateful to community members who reached out to help care for the dogs.

"We've gotten quite a few donations, which has been really helpful," Foster said. "That [vet] bill is getting pretty big."