Posted on 09/24/2023 7:43:04 AM PDT by chrisinoc
CHANDLER, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) — A search at a Chandler home ended with dozens of dogs rescued and the homeowner in custody on Friday evening. Now court documents allege that April Mclaughlin was also storing deceased dogs in the freezer.
Police searched her home Friday evening after receiving information from a veterinary professional regarding the condition of three dogs. The house, near Pecos and Cooper roads, is also an animal rescue accused of neglecting dogs. Officers arrived to find a foul odor and requested a hazardous materials team. “We wanted to ensure there weren’t hazardous fumes occurring at the residence with first responders inside a very small home, so that’s why they were requested to ensure that everybody was safe inside the home,” said Chandler Police Sgt. Emma Huenneke.
As of Saturday, Sept. 23, police say 55 dogs were taken from Mclaughlin’s home. Huenneke said the police investigation into the rescue started on Sept. 8 when they were tipped off about the abuse allegations. Huenneke said officers had been out to the home . Mclaughlin was taken into custody on Friday night. She was booked on 55 counts of animal abuse, 55 counts of animal cruelty and one count of vulnerable adult abuse. She made her first initial court appearance Saturday afternoon, during which state prosecutors told the judge that they had found dogs in poor living conditions, explaining that some dogs had been found living in their own feces, had no water, and that many will likely need to be euthanized. Authorities also alleged that the air quality in the home was so bad, that firefighters who arrived had to wear special breathing equipment and had the house condemned.
(Excerpt) Read more at azfamily.com ...
One thing the news report left out was the Chandler PD was called out on June 30 for possible elderly neglect and did absolutely nothing. The officer should have noticed the odor and squalid conditions and called adult protective services but instead closed the case. I read the police report.
This women should be euthanized. She’s the animal in this situation.
She is obviously a textbook case of mental illness. I find it hard to condemn somebody who is so mentally ill.
My grandfather had an exterminating job for a while and one summer my dad and I went with him on his route. We visited the Idaho Insane Asylum on one trip and, as a mid-teen, I was shocked to see the truly insane people screaming and pounding their heads. This woman is probably not far from those people I saw.
There should be an elderly abuse hotline... find the number and call them. Also, if you want an investigation to get results call the Governors office. The request will go to the same place but they’ll have to file a report back to the Governor’s office. So it’s usually more effective.
That said, police are not necessarily trained in ‘abuse’ crimes... they went with the one most obvious.
This is the kind of stuff that needs exposed before the politicians and bureaucrats and others get a chance to cover up truth, as was done with the Nashville manifesto. Truth at all levels is too often covered up instead of exposed. We need to demand the truth and nothing but the truth always be exposed while the culture today is politics and media can cover it up. Put truth back in our culture at all levels of news.
The woman involved and charged had allegedly used aliases in creating her home as an animal shelter. Several more sources below.
https://www.tmz.com/2023/09/23/special-needs-dogs-rescued-arizona-home-animal-abuse-claims/
I understand that aspect of it. It just pushes a visceral button when people abuse animals that are entrusted to their care. Especially when those animals, like neglected dogs, seem to loose the will to survive or defend themselves because a person they trusted treated them so badly. Not being people they don't understand why these things are happening to them. The only thing they know is, life sucks.
It just really p!$$e$ me off.
I’ve seen episodes from hoarder house shows and seen cases where people had to wear breathing apparatus just to enter somewhere where someone was actually still living.
A human being’s ability to live in beyond squalor is staggering. Not only psychologically, but even physically.
“The woman involved and charged had allegedly used aliases in creating her home as an animal shelter. Several more sources below.”
She used the name April Addison when I confronted her in 2018 and 2019. Our rescue was scammed out of two dogs with a terminal disease. We paid her $600 to get them back but she kept the donated goods that we sent with them. Law enforcement wouldn’t do anything.
The people I’m working with have counted at least nine aliases and two fake rescue names. She also uses random addresses to show where the dogs are being take of (I know because I checked out one of those fake addresses). Finally the people were able to track her to the 1700 block of Kesler Street in Chandler.
Even if she gets minimal sentencing, she might get another unpleasant surprise: a visit from one of Brandon’s 87,000 IRS agents for tax fraud.
Thank you very much for your work with animals.
are you police or just a looky loo?
“are you police or just a looky loo?”
Neither. She conned our rescue out of $600 cash plus material donations in 2018. That’s why I’ll helped another rescue get their dogs back. Others were her neighbors and other rescues who were previously swindled out of their dogs.
some guy i know ( his daughter) paid 1200.00 to a “rescue” to build a kennel ect. for her dog, turns out they also were a scam with lots of dead dogs on the property. ( Tennessee)
I wouldn’t give them a penny without checking out the property and people involved.
TN is dreadful when it comes to treatment of pets and animals in general. Neglect is rampant. I believe TBI was tasked to handle this issue about 10 years ago, but it never got better. I can’t even imagine how people can have pets and then do things that obviously will kill them.
And there’s a woman, Cameo Farr, who ran a crematory for pets. She was just dumping them to rot and giving owners ashes, but not of their pets. Our cat was one of them.
It’s a crime, and Hubby dogged TPTB to have her protected, but she never has had to answer for it.
“some guy i know ( his daughter) paid 1200.00 to a “rescue” to build a kennel ect. for her dog, turns out they also were a scam with lots of dead dogs on the property. ( Tennessee)
I wouldn’t give them a penny without checking out the property and people involved.”
Our rescue sent several dogs to a now-defunct Tennessee rescue and physically vetted the property and met with the property owner who was ex-military and ex-police. By all standards it was a well-run organization that rehabbed dogs into police K9s. Five years later the state shut them down due to inhumane conditions and he’s in jail on drug and assault charges. Fortunately, the dogs we sent over were not on the property and being trained as a true working dogs.
i believe they only had 2 dogs that were in good condition. they used these dogs as the bait for photos, meet ups, ect. and i think all the $$ went to their drug problems.
Malinois dogs.
So don’t condemn her. But do put her away.
“i believe they only had 2 dogs that were in good condition. they used these dogs as the bait for photos, meet ups, ect. and i think all the $$ went to their drug problems.
Malinois dogs.”
Malinois Ranch Rescue for those who didn’t know.
For the post story the name is (was) Special Needs Animal Welfare League (SNAWL). The woman had multiple aliases and that made it difficult to track her.
i wasn’t sure of the name of the rescue so thanks.
“to have her protected” = PROSECUTED, not protected.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.