Dogs found at woman’s home in violation of probation from animal cruelty case
Authorities say their hands are tied in regards to an apparent probation violation by a woman convicted of animal neglect last year.
Officers and members of the Animal Control Team spent the better part of three hours at 609 N. Washington in Huntingburg today as officers worked through the legality of entering the home belonging to 66-year-old Mary Burch.
Burch was convicted of five counts of animal cruelty after she was arrested in 2014. She originally faced 37 counts of animal cruelty after officials removed 37 dogs — nine of which were dead — from the home after complaints were received by the Huntingburg Police Department.
As part of the plea agreement Burch entered into, she was sentenced to five years of probation in which she was barred from possessing vertebrate animals. She was also ordered to pay restitution to the Dubois County Humane Society for the expenses the organization incurred for medical care and kenneling for the remaining dogs that were seized.
The City of Huntingburg ordered Burch’s home demolished after she failed to meet the requirements they set forth after she appealed to the Board of Public Works for time to clean up the property (story here).
However, Burch appealed to the Dubois County Superior Court and was granted time to fix the property. The agreement with the court was predicated on her meeting requirements on cleaning up the property and fixing the identified issues to bring the home up to livable standards.
On Thursday, the Huntingburg Board of Public Works heard that Burch had not met all the court-ordered goals but officials could not gain access to the house since she was allegedly in the hospital for undisclosed medical issues. Huntingburg Code Enforcement Officer Steve Collett explained that Burch was making progress on the home and the judge would be reviewing her progress later this month.
Several complaints that Burch was harboring animals at her home received by authorities sent officers with the sheriff’s department, Huntingburg Police Department and Dubois County Probations as well as members of the Animal Control Team to the residence today at about 2:45 p.m.
Authorities knocked on the door several times and made calls to the home to no avail.
According to Deputy Stuart Wilson, he observed at least two dogs in the home which is a violation of Burch’s probation. Stuart said the animals appeared to be healthy and clean and he did not observe any unsafe conditions for the animals so, concerned for the legality of entering the home on a probation violation, Stuart contacted the prosecuting attorney’s office.
The prosecuting attorney’s office advised the deputy and other officers at the scene that a probation violation did not give the officer probable cause to enter the home unless he had observed a criminal act. Since housing a dog is not a criminal act in and of itself, the fact the dogs were in the home was not enough to seek the search warrant.
According to Deputy Wilson, legally he can’t arrest someone if he observes a probation violation without another criminal act. “For example, I can observe someone drinking alcohol in violation of their probation and I can’t arrest them,” he said. “I will report it to the prosecuting attorney’s office and they will then present the violation to the judge who can then revoke the probation.”
Wilson says he is concerned that now the dogs can be moved to another location, but the questionable legality of entering the home without probable cause was not worth facing a potential lawsuit or criminal charges for violating Burch’s right to privacy.
He advised that Superior Court Judge Mark McConnell is aware of what the officers observed at the home. It is in his hands to determine whether or not to revoke Burch’s probation.
