Mississippi Child Abuse and Puppy Mill Case

FROM RESCUE DOG CENTRAL

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Mississippi child abuse and puppy mill case gets worse: details released describe horrific conditions

New Albany, Mississippi

We wrote about this case yesterday. Since our original posting, more details about this case have been released in the news. The details are disturbing and horrifying for both the children and the animals. The truly evil couple who ran this horrific puppy mill and severely abused their Internationally adopted children are now facing homicide charges and multiple counts of animal cruelty.

Here is what investigators found after looking further into the heartbreaking and needless death of the two-year old little girl.

Beyond the deceptively normal yard lurks the site of indescribable child abuse and severe animal neglect, a case so horrible that many officials who deal with such cases said it's the worst situation they've ever seen.

"The people that did this should be shot, or at least when we come to spay and neuter these animals we should spay and neuter these people along with them," said Mississippi State University School of Veterinary Medicine Professor Phil Bushby.

That might not be necessary. The Barretos face homicide charges after their 2-year-old adopted daughter died Monday at Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center in Memphis. Doctors who treated the girl had notified authorities that the couple might have abused their daughter. In their follow-up investigation, law enforcement agents also discovered a mass puppy breeding operation on their property.

As a result, the Barretos also face animal abuse charges from the Tupelo-Lee Humane Society, which was granted custody of the more than 185 dogs and 25 cats found stuffed in filthy cages behind the house.

One duck also was found dead in a cage with no food or water.

Eight other Guatemalan children adopted by the couple are in protective custody. It's unclear at this point how the Barretos were able to pass mandatory home visits required by the Department of Homeland Security to adopt international children.

On Tuesday morning, the house - located about five miles south of New Albany - was sealed off by yellow police tape. But the front door remained open to allow air to circulate through what law enforcement officers had described as a stuffy and dirty environment.

Some even talked about cockroaches falling from the ceiling. A peek through the open door revealed clothes and toys strewn across the floors, piles of junk on the dining room table, and the happy faces of dark-haired children smiling from photographs hung on the wall.

A heap of children's shoes - mostly pink - lay abandoned by the front door.

Behind the house, sealed from view by a homemade fence covered in opaque plastic, were more horrors: Hundreds of animals in tiny, raised cages made from chicken wire. They were made to breed time and time again, their babies snatched and sold for profit at flea markets.

They included cocker spaniels, poodles, Lhasa apsos, rat terriers, English bulldogs, Chihuahuas, schnauzers and other popular breeds - many that would fetch between $300 and $800 apiece, according to Debbie Hood, TLHS director.

"If you buy at the flea market, this is where your puppy was raised," said DeAnn Massengill, a volunteer and animal expert, who spent the day caring for the animals there.

There were nearly 70 cages in all, most containing five or six pets who shared a few feet of space and a bucket of brown water. Urine and feces had fallen through the wires and accumulated in vast piles beneath the cages. Some of the excrement had become matted in fur and stuck to the wire inside the cage, where it formed large piles the animals had to maneuver around.

In one cage Tuesday morning, a small dog birthed two pups atop a mound of feces. In another cage, the furry waste became so heavy it ripped the floor, causing a hole the animals took care not to fall through.

Flies buzzed incessantly throughout the enclosure, feeding mostly on the feces, but also the pus running from some of the animals' eyes.

In a larger enclosure, a cocker spaniel's fur became so matted that the clumps prevented it from walking normally. Most of the animals there also had matted fur - in some cases, the problem was so bad even the veterinarians couldn't identify the breeds.

We cannot emphasize this enough. If you are aware of or have knowledge of ANY form of cruelty, please tell someone immediately. Alert the authorities. Call the police! There are tip lines and crime lines dedicated to allowing people to make anonymous reports of cruelty and abuse so that the individuals will not have to fear retaliation from the abusers.

Despite the fact that far too many people believe that worrying about the treatment of animals is a waste of time, animal cruelty is a SERIOUS crime that has not only been taken far too lightly by the bulk of society for far too long, but it often an indicator of accompanying abuse towards weaker human beings. The link between animal cruelty and human abuse, as is demonstrated in this Mississippi case, is very real and has extremely serious and painful implications for the victimized people and animals. Ignoring the link only results in the continued infliction of cruelty and abuse towards the vulnerable humans and defenseless animals that so desperately need others to make the cruelty stop.

As this investigation continues, it is possible that authorities will find out that other people were aware of the abuse inflicted on the children and the cruelty inflicted on the animals, yet did nothing to intervene on their behalf. Such a devastating discovery would be followed with a myriad of excuses as to why reports of cruelty weren’t made or, if there were reports of cruelty made, why those reports were never followed-up on. Excuses are worthless now, as any lack of reporting by individuals who knew something was wrong and any lack of follow-up by appropriate entities will have contributed to the death of a two-year old child. Excuses won’t bring this poor little girl back. Excuses won’t undo the harm done to the eight other adopted children who were abused and forced to live in such filthy and horrific conditions. And, excuses won’t undo the physical and behavioral damage done to the defenseless animals that these people unscrupulously over bred and abused to make money.

On behalf of the defenseless among us, both human and animal, we need to learn from this case and understand that we have a moral obligation to do something to stop the cruelty that we know exists. We cannot sit on our knowledge and do nothing with it, in hopes that some one else will do something to make the cruelty stop. It will be a devastating and horrible shame if it is learned that there were people, in this Mississippi case, who knew about the abuse to the children and/or the animals and did nothing, in hopes that some one else would do something, given that the extreme abuse in this case resulted in the excruciatingly painful death of a little two-year old girl.

Please learn from this case. If you are aware of cruelty, do something to make it stop! Don’t wait until it is too late.In the meantime, the Tupelo-Lee Humane Society needs help, and homes, for the dogs. Please, help if you can!

Posted by Rescue Dog Central at 9:37 AM 0 comments
Labels: Human Abuse, Mississippi, Puppy Mills

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Child's death in Mississippi shows link between animal and human abuse; immediate help needed at Tupelo-Lee Humane Society

Location: New Albany, Mississippi

Yes, there is a direct link between animal cruelty and human neglect and violence. Common sense should make this easy to understand. If a human has the capability to abuse and neglect an animal, a weaker being of lesser “status” that is completely dependent on that human being for it’s existence, then it is, sadly, easy for that cruel and abusive capability to extend towards other dependent and weaker human beings, especially children, the elderly, and vulnerable adults.

An example of this link can be found outside of New Albany, Mississippi, where a case of a two-year child dying of extreme child neglect led to the discovery of a puppy mill being run by the same child abusers.

A case of extreme child neglect here Sunday night led to one death, two felony counts and the discovery of a mass puppy breeding operation that has animal officials stunned.Union County Sheriff's deputies raided the home of Janet and Ramone Barreto, 824 County Road 87 near New Albany, after receiving a tip from doctors that the couple might have abused their adopted daughter.

Once at the home, law-enforcement agents also found more than 180 dogs, 25 cats and several ducks in various conditions. The animals' numbers are expected to increase, because some of them continue to give birth.Sheriff Tommy Wilhite said the Barreto's 2-year-old daughter was brought from a local hospital to Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center in Memphis for an unspecified reason. Doctors there suspected child neglect and tipped off Wilhite on Sunday night, when he obtained a warrant and raided the property.

The 2-year-old died Monday morning, but a cause of death was not yet available.

All but one of the couple's nine children now are in protective custody, Wilhite said, although he did not give the whereabouts of the remaining child. The animals are being taken care of by the Tupelo-Lee Humane Society, which was called by the sheriff's department Sunday night. The couple has been charged with two felony counts of child neglect and could face more charges as the investigation continues, Wilhite said. Tupelo-Lee Humane Society officials say they might press charges, too, for animal neglect.In the meantime, the humane society has filed a warrant for order of protection on the property to allow staff to enter the property and take care of the animals. It also filed a seizure warrant to take the animals from the property, said shelter director Debbie Hood.

Both have been granted. All of us should be taking the link between animal cruelty and human abuse seriously. In far too many cases, where there is a discovery of animal neglect, there is the discovery of harm to humans, and vice versa. Because of this link, social services and animal rescue organizations should develop and wholeheartedly utilize a policy of communication, whereby the discovery of one form of abuse is reported to the other. Direct and constant communication will not only prevent further abuse of the victims involved, both the human victims and the defenseless animals, but the communication will also prevent the abuse and neglect of future victims.

Understanding the link between the abuse of animals and the abuse of other defenseless human beings is not difficult; it is common sense. Those who are fully capable of abusing and neglecting one weaker living being will abuse and neglect other weaker living beings, be they human or animal. And, the abusers will not stop their cruel and harmful behavior on their own. To stop the abuse, other people who suspect or become aware of the abuse must not ignore the information, but must report the abuse to appropriate individuals that can do something to intervene on behalf of the victims.

To learn more about the connection between animal cruelty and human violence, go here.

We cannot repeat this often enough. If you are aware of a cruelty situation, do something! Tell someone! Do what you can to prevent other children, like this little girl, from enduring such tremendous pain and neglect. Where there is animal abuse, there is likely some form of human abuse as well, as this heartbreaking Mississippi story shows. Animals and children cannot defend themselves and cannot save themselves from the horrible and painful abuse of cruel human beings. Therefore, the responsibility to prevent and stop the abuse belongs to others to do so. Take your responsibility to ensure that all living beings are treated humanely and are not abused seriously. When you discover abuse, do something to make it stop!

In the meantime, the Tupelo-Lee Humane Society is in need of help to care for the animals confiscated from these child abusing puppy millers. Debbie Hood, the Tupelo-Lee Humane Society Director, is asking for much needed assistance.

If you can help in any way, please do! Go here for more information on how you can help the puppy mill animals.

Posted by Rescue Dog Central at 9:56 AM 0 comments
Labels: Animal Cruelty, Human Abuse, Mississippi

SOURCE: Rescue Dog Central and Rescue Dog Central