As the animal control officer for Standish and Limington, Jack Freitas has witnessed his share of animal neglect and abuse.
Most recently, Freitas participated in the seizure of animals March 30 in Buxton and in Limington in early February.
Freitas makes a distinction between cases of neglect and abuse. He cited an abuse case where a dog was tied in the woods and left to die, apparently as revenge when a couple split up.
For neglect cases, he said, he prefers to educate pet owners so they can properly care for their animals.
“I’ve never taken anyone to court for neglect,” said Freitas, but he does take abuse cases to court.
Freitas said in many of the cases known as animal hoarding, good people mean well but lose control of their ability to care for animals after numbers increase. He said often people go into denial and can’t see the conditions they live in.
“Some people could have a dead dog in the house and honestly don’t know it in hoarding of multiple animals,” Freitas said.
He said a lot of times there are mental or emotional health issues or dementia with hoarders. “Many feel the dogs need them,” he said.
Citing one particular case involving an elderly couple, he said when they were asked, they thought they had five or six cats. But there were 30 living in the house.
Freitas has walked into some places and vomited. Yet, he said, some conditions become so outrageous that smell of a dead animal is masked by the smell of feces, which people can become oblivious to. Because of the stench, he once had to wear a mask to enter a home where the people were sitting watching TV.
In some cases, Freitas said, animal hoarders skip meals themselves or don’t buy necessary medication for themselves to try to feed a multitude of pets.
Freitas said neighbors and friends often sympathize with hoarders rather than seeking help for them. He said hoarding isn’t limited to any particular social level and can happen in any community.
And sometimes hoarders are victimized as more pets are dumped on them.
“They are a perfect target for people,” Freitas said. “Good ole John Doe will take it.”
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