Oregon bunny hoarder in trouble again for having animals

[Raspberry82]

[size="-1"]10:46 AM PST on Sunday, January 20, 2008[/size] HILLSBORO, Ore. -- Miriam Elaine Sakewitz is in trouble again for having animals.

KGW Photo
Miriam Sakewitz talks to KGW.
Her troubles began in October 2006, when police found nearly 250 rabbits at her home in Hillsboro. Eighty-eight of the animals were dead, in freezers.

She pleaded no contest to animal neglect and other charges filed after she broke into a police facility and took back more than 140 of the rabbits.

After serving time last year, she was on probation -- on orders to stay away from animals.
But police say they found a dog and a rabbit in her garage when they went to her house earlier this month to check a report that she was suicidal.

Now, the 45-year-old Sakewitz must appear in court at the end of the month on charges of violating her probation. She could be sent to jail for five years.



Figured an update was in order since this was on the news recently.. SO GLAD my Jemma was one of the ones saved!




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[BlueCamasRabbitry]

Oh wow! I Never heard about this person....well I think I remember hearing it on the news a few months ago....or that could have been someone else. Raspberry you live in Portland!? I live in Washington State, hehe. You think I would have heard this since I'm very close.

Poor bunnies! I"m glad you rescued Jemma, Raspberry.

Gosh, that lady deserves to go to jail!

Emily

 

[mouse_chalk]

That's awful... I don't tend to read this forum very often, cos it upsets me so much- stories like this are the reason why!:grumpy:

I sincerely hope this woman goes to prison for what she's put those poor animals through- she's clearly not listened to her probation conditions if she's keeping yet more animals...

Raspberry, I'm so glad you rescued Jemma!

Jen xx

 

[trailsend]

That's awful. I'm also glad you saved Jemma, and hope the other buns will be saved as well. This happens all too often.

 

[FallingStar]

Oh My! I can't see how a person can do these things to animals. It's revolting and wrong. :grumpy:

This lady should be in jail for awhile!

 

[Raspberry82]

I really dislike unhappy news reports, too and I considered not posting this one because of that, but at least on the upside it seems likely she'll be getting the reprimand she deserves

 

[gentle giants]

I don't understand why they haven't gotten this woman profesional help. Animal hoarding is a medical/mental condition, just like alchoholism. Unfortunatly, the animals are the victims with this addiction/condition. For the most part, the person doing the hoarding really does care about the animals they have, but cannot recognize the fact that they are not able to care for so many.

Those of us who are responsible pet owners know our limits and won't get another animal when we know we can't care for it properly, whether financially or time-wise. People with this condition don't recognize that fact. Even a responsible person would not be able to give good care to over 250 rabbits runnning loose in a house, it's not physically possible.

 

[Bassetluv]

I don't understand why they haven't gotten this woman profesional help. Animal hoarding is a medical/mental condition, just like alchoholism. Unfortunatly, the animals are the victims with this addiction/condition. For the most part, the person doing the hoarding really does care about the animals they have, but cannot recognize the fact that they are not able to care for so many.

I agree...and I think a lot of Humane Societies do recognize this. I tend to feel as badly for the hoarder as I do for the animals, as they suffer as well. Their hearts (in most cases) are in the right place, and they honestly do love the animals they have, but they are just not capable of understanding that they are doing much more harm than good. Even when the animals suffer and die, they cannot see the problem. It's definitely a mental/medical condition.

 

[tonyshuman]

ditto to gentlegiants and bassetluv

in the manual used to diagnose psychiatric conditions (the DSM-IV), it's linked to obsessive-compulsive disorders. people who hoard obviously have a warped sense of reality--they don't understand that they can't care for more animals--which is one of the major things associated with many mental diseases (for instance, in depression you don't understand that you are a worthwhile human being). putting hoarders in jail isn't going to help--drugs and therapy will.