Oct 6, 2009 5:26 pm US/Central
SPCA Seizes Hundreds Of Animals In Sunnyvale
SUNNYVALE (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
Dozens of horses, chickens, and other livestock were found living in squalor and allegedly abused. Tuesday the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) got a warrant and seized nearly 400 horses, cows, chickens, and other livestock from Kearney's Store in Sunnyvale.
The Kearney family has been housing and selling livestock from their Dallas County location for 25 years. SPCA officials say they've been responding to complaints on the store since 2005 and on Tuesday got a warrant to seize every animal on the property.
"Over the last few years, cruel confinement," said James Bias of the SPCA. "Animals subjected to water fouled with their own waste. Animals that can't move freely under their caging."
The SPCA didn't allow media access to the areas they say were most deplorable on the Kearney property.
But they did release photos showing a rooster missing most of its feathers, a cow that appears underweight and animals' drinking water that appeared muddy and filled with pieces of debris.
Officials with the SPCA say the horses have hooves that are curling at the ends - a sign they aren't being cared for. Some animals also had feces in their water and living areas.
"That's what we've witnessed for the last few years is that they would slip and then get back into compliance again and let it slip," said Bias.
Earnest Kearney owns the store and was charged Tuesday with a misdemeanor. His grandson William Kearney says Earnest has collected animals for 65 years. "We ain't got nothing to hide. We open the gates to the SPCA. We let them in every time," William said.
William Kearney claims the family has adequately addressed the concerns from the SPCA about animals living in their own feces. "That was a problem we addressed a year ago," he said.
Kearney family members say they believe the complaints are coming from people in Sunnyvale who believe the store is an eyesore and want it to close. The SPCA isn't saying who the complaints came from.
"It's just unbelievable," said Pamela Kearney-Lopez. "We have worked with these people. They have come out for a year and we worked with them and we've gotten okays on it. And now here they show up."
Most of the animals have been taken to a SPCA facility in McKinney.
Next Thursday a judge will decide if the Kearney family will get the animals back or if they will be put up for adoption.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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