Posted on 12/31/2008 11:14:22 AM PST by Behind Liberal Lines
ROMULUS NY— A number of Seneca County officials assisted in the removal of living and dead dogs found inside a residence in the hamlet of Hayts Corners Tuesday, on a frigid evening where the temperatures inside the unheated house weren’t much higher than they were outside.
Peggy Yaw, a neighbor who had looked after James Bassett since he moved to 6797 County Road 129 last July, said she had reported her concerns to the Seneca County Sheriff’s Department earlier in the day.
Yaw was in tears as she provided a list of the names of living and dead dogs removed by Seneca County SPCA director Jenny McWhorter and Romulus dog control officer Aaron Covert.
After two Seneca County sheriff’s deputies, sheriff’s investigator John Cleere and district attorney’s office investigator Bob Steele went through the house, more than a half dozen live dogs in poor condition, a live pigeon, three dead adult dogs and 12 dead puppies were removed.
A former girlfriend of Bassett, who declined to be identified, said he is a 64-year-old Vietnam veteran and former truck driver who moved from Florida to Wayne County years ago before relocating here. She said Bassett suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome and had been off his medications for some time.
Bassett was taken away by sheriff’s deputies earlier in the day for psychiatric evaluation at a local hospital. Deputies had reportedly responded to calls about him before.
“The weird thing is that there were several 50-pound bags of dog food, but the dogs were starving,” said McWhorter.
The surviving dogs were also suffering from dehydration and respiratory infections, she said.
McWhorter said it didn’t appear that the dogs had been taken outside for some time because of the accumulation of feces in the house but that certain areas had been sectioned off as places where the dogs could relieve themselves.
Some of the dead dogs appeared to have expired a while ago, said McWhorter.
The owner of the property where Bassett lives could not be confirmed, but McWhorter reported that the owner planned to immediately clear and clean the house.
Wanna bet if this guy had been a life-long Liberal and member of Dumpsterunderground.com, it would not have been mentioned? But the Press Brothel just HAS to include being a Vietnam Vet when someone goes nuts. Scumbags.
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