July 30, California:
Investigators said they’ve uncovered one of the worst ever cases of animal abuse even in Tulare County and a juvenile’s life was also threatened. At least 50 animals were found dead and even more neglected at a home in Strathmore. Investigators have arrested 53-year-old Linda Corsiglia.
Reportedly the 16 year old daughter of the owner was also living in the home where authorities found 19 dead dogs, cats, rabbits and chickens – another 31 dead animals were found outside. 150 other animals were found “starving”. The child was removed from the home.
Corsiglia faces animal cruelty and neglect charges as well as child endangerment.
And on August 3:
The South Valley woman accused of abusing and neglecting more than 200 animals is out of jail.
[…]
The DA said they did not have enough information to charge Corsiglia with any crimes but asked the sheriff’s department to keep the investigation open.
With so few details, it’s hard to know what to make of this about-face on the part of authorities. They went from “one of the worst ever cases of animal abuse in the county/child’s life threatened” to “not enough info to charge” in less than a week. I would think that raising a child in a home with a large number of dead animals would warrant some sort of charge. Maybe authorities had their facts wrong from the start? I don’t know but it does seem curious.
this is a huge “wtf” story, huh!?
I wouldn’t let anyone from Countryside Rescue pull animals period. I’m unsurprised a hoarder would be a “rescuer” for them. (Sorry, personal experience with the “rescue” has jaded my perception of them.)
In my mind, Kern County has only themselves to blame. They allowed this woman to pull 200 animals, TWO HUNDRED, in less than two months from their shelter. That’s a side-of-barn-sized red flag.
As to the investigation, it’s still open. That doesn’t mean there won’t be future charges brought against this woman.
I don’t think I would make light of the situation just because charges weren’t filed. Irrefutable facts are she had way too many animals in a home, 50 DEAD animals, and several in varying degrees of poor health. Whether those facts constitute animal cruelty as defined by Kern County or the state’s penal code is a toss-up. There are plenty of animal abuse cases in this state that are never prosecuted or charges dropped. That doesn’t really negate the animal abuse.
Re: “making light of situation” – Does my post come across as “haha this is funny”? Cos I meant it as a “what the heck”?
What is Countryside Rescue?
Sorry, the title implied that and the quotes around the word “starving” seemed to indicate that maybe this wasn’t a bad situation. My apologies that I mis-read that.
Countryside Rescue operates out of Santa Rosa, and they place a variety of animals, including farmed animals. Perhaps things have changed since I last visited them. It wasn’t illegal, but it wasn’t how I would want animals I cared for to live (and when the other option is death, I don’t have high standards). The woman in question took in these animals under Countryside Rescue’s name and, when asked about her qualifications, they asserted “she’s got acreage”. Given my past experiences with them, I’m just unsurprised hoarders rescue on behalf of Countryside.
I intended the title to represent the about-face from authorities in the case. I put starving in quotes because it was the exact word used to describe the pets in the article I linked to.
I didn’t see any reference in the articles to this woman being tied to any specific rescue. (I didn’t/can’t watch the vid – is there some reference in the video?) The second article mentions that she opened the shelter for her daughter.
http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x2120045888/Kern-released-animals-to-woman-now-accused-of-cruelty
Ah – so she was using Countryside’s rescue ID number to pull from the shelter but supposedly starting up her own shelter for her daughter. Curiouser.
Kern County cases seem to be the worst somehow. Ed Jagels has had a horrible influence there, hasn’t he? According to Wikipedia he put 30 innocent people in jail for alleged sex crimes which the people were not only not guilty of but which never occurred. He was a bad influence there from 1983 to 2009.
Who was that one rescuer who he persecuted a year or two ago?
One reason that a number of dead animals might not be worthy of charging a person for might be because the bodies were properly stored or buried. A favorite habit of “raiders” is to mess with people because they find buried or frozen dead animals on a property. The allegations of abuse might have been “put up” and Jagels has retired so he doesn’t have their backs. Maybe the dogs had easy ways to get away from the allegedly hot ground and concrete and were just fine.
Maybe the old guard is discretely being changed out because you have to face it, some of this is too much for all but the worst of the worst.
Again, just a thought, but if the community had a no kill shelter, perhaps the sick individual wouldnt have felt the need to keep all of those animals?
Alot of hoarding cases stem from a genuinely caring person, trying to save the world….they get in over their heads….and chaos ensues. If they had a No Kill shelter to turn to, perhaps they would have asked them for help.
Other hoarders, just seem to be mentally ill.
If there was a no kill shelter nearby, this case of hoarding might never have happened.
So who’s to blame? The killers (kill ‘shelters, pounds, PETA) and their enablers (HSUS, ASPCA) who fight hard to ensure that no kill shelters arent built. No, they prefer concentration camps be built, where cats and dogs are taken to be murdered. Because of this, people try to take on too much responsibility, to compensate for the lack of responsibility, compassion, and reverence for the lives of their fellow living souls, on the part of deadbeat killers like PETA, HSUS, ASPCA, kill ‘shelters, pounds, on and on.
Nobody HAS to euthanize (murder) shelter pets. They CHOOSE to. Lets never forget that fact.
Where there is a will, there is a way.
If there is enough space on Earth for us 250 pound human animals, you can bet that there is plenty of room on this Earth for 10-15 pound cats, and 50-65 pound dogs.
Dont believe the “Too many animals, not enough space” myth.
The killers use it to get away with murder.
For more on this myth: http://www.nathanwinograd.com
Nathan Winograd? Hmmm … I just can’t find the names of the “No-Kill” shelters he’s opened. Does anyone know where they are?
I’m not sure if you literally mean “opened” but very few no kill advocates who work in shelters actually *open* shelters. Most no kill advocates who work in shelters work in existing shelters with an aim to improving the conditions. I know Nathan has written quite a bit about the work he did at shelters in San Francisco and Tompkins Co, NY.