A 95-Year-Old Woman and Multiple Dogs, Hundreds of Other Animals,Found Trapped in a Northport Home

Local authorities were appalled when they entered a home to find more than 200 animals hoarded and living in squalor.

The home, located in suburban New York, is owned by a wildlife rehabber who was trapping dozens of species. Cats and dogs, hedgehogs and chinchillas, ducks and parrots, and many other animals were trapped in horrifying conditions, often standing in tiny cages on top of their own feces and waste. Most had no access to food or water.

Then, the nightmare got worse.

Authorities realized that parts of the home were so filled with trash that they were literally impassable. That's when they found an elderly woman in a room so filled with garbage that she couldn't even get out.

Luckily, a fellow wildlife rehabilitator had sent a tip to local authorities, who were able to rescue literally hundreds of innocent animals and the elderly woman.

Sign now to demand that Northport authorities strip this woman of her wildlife rehabilitator license, get her access to mental health care, and investigate the neglect immediately!

Tragically, one duck had to be euthanized because an infection had grown so severe that it could not recover. Another duck, also suffering from an infection, had to be drained of two pounds of fluid. These are just two examples of the danger of this type of neglect and abuse, which puts sweet animals of all kinds at extremely high risk of illness and death. Thanks to hard-working local wildlife rehabilitators and shelters, the other animals recovered from the scene are being placed in new homes or with rescue groups.

This is also yet another example of the ways domestic abuse, such as elder neglect, and animal abuse are often linked.

Northport authorities have charged the woman who owns the home -- the daughter of the elderly woman found on the scene -- with numerous counts of animal abuse, to which she is pleading not guilty. It is time that local authorities take this case seriously by fully investigating the neglect, getting this woman access to mental health treatment, and stripping her of her wildlife rehabilitator license! Sign the petition now if you agree!