The animal hoarding case in Bedford County is headed to court.
This won’t be a criminal proceeding in 10 days, it’ll be a civil one.
The commonwealth will have to appear in Bedford General District Court to explain to a judge why it felt it had to step in and take all the Thaxton man’s pets off his property.
I expect the judge will hear from several witnesses (such as animal control officers) and veterinarians that examined the animals.
They will probably file paperwork explaining the physical condition of some of the dogs and cats.
The owner, whom we’ve not named yet since he hasn’t been criminally charged, will also get a chance to ask the judge to get some of his pets back.
If the owner doesn’t agree with the judge’s findings, he can appeal the ruling to Circuit Court and vice versa.
From talking to investigators at the scene, I get the feeling they think the man meant well it’s just that he might be a “hoarder.”
I talked to several vets about this and they tell animal hoarding can be a mental condition which could be treatable.
It makes me wonder if the Bedford County commonwealth’s attorney’s office will move to charge the man criminally.
They certainly can choose to do so.
They could also choose not to prosecute.
I will not take a stance on it at this time one way or the other.
In the past when I’ve covered these types of cases, all authorities want is the animals in a safe environment. If the owner works with investigators, there’s a better chance there will be no charges.
The amount of ammonia inside the house could be enough that Bedford County’s code enforcement office condemns the home as well.
I’ll be following all of this in the next week or so to see what happens.
Posted by Scott Leamon at 11:01 PM. Filed under: leamon •
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