Huntingburg woman with 37 dogs charged with animal neglect
Huntingburg — Huntingburg police, with the assistance of the Dubois County Animal Control Team (ACT) and Dubois County Humane Society (DCHS), found 37 dogs — nine deceased — at a Huntingburg residence Friday.
According to police, they were contacted by members of ACT about the alleged animal neglect at 609 N. Washington Street belonging to Mary K. Burch, 66. The house is not lived in.
A Huntingburg officer and members of ACT visited the home and based on the visit, filed for a search warrant through the Dubois Count Prosecutor’s Office. Once the search warrant was approved through the Dubois County Circuit Court, officers and members of ACT and Dubois County Humane Society returned to the home at about 1:30 p.m. and served the warrant.
During the search, they found 37 dogs on the property. The dogs found alive were taken by the two animal rescue organizations. Several dogs required treatment and nine of the dogs found were dead — those were removed. The deceased dogs were found in the attic of the home.
A spokesperson for the Dubois County Humane Society stated several of the dogs were transferred to local veterinarians for immediate care. The remaining were transferred to the ACT and DCHS facilities.
“We were happy to work in conjunction with ACT and the Huntingburg Police Department,” the spokesperson from the humane society said. “It has been a long journey for these dogs, but we are so happy to put an end to their lives of breeding and living in inhumane conditions. We will keep everyone abreast of their progress and will work diligently to find them loving homes. DCHS and ACT will be in need of foster homes to help these dogs recover.”
According to police, the investigation is ongoing. Burch has been charged with A misdemeanor animal neglect and other charges are pending.
JUST a misdemeanor???
What do you mean JUST a misdemeanor? She didn’t murder anyone. Get real!
She basically tortured 37 poor little dogs killing 9 of them. What is wrong with you?
Animals feel pain, too. There was no excuse. She should suffer the same as what she did to those poor little ones.
She may not have murdered a person, but she allowed 9 dogs to die of starvation or disease in tiny metal cages in her attic and just let them up there. Plus there was an alive mother dog and her nursing puppy in a tiny metal cage stacked right next to these dead dogs. She should get more than a misdemeanor and slap on the wrist. This has been going on for years so who knows how many defenseless dogs have died in that house.
So sorry to hear. This case has been like an accident waiting to happen for many years. In fact variations of it have happened before at this location with Ms. Burch, though not to such a sad (sick) extent – but the warning signs have been there. Too bad the city or county code enforcement pertaining to animals, health, property and sanitary conditions were not more on the ball – willing to open their eyes to taking action firm enough to possibly prevent such an ultimate outcome.