Rabbit hoarding - 13 seized, one more found dead
Tigard, OR (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009
County: Washington
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Miriam Elaine Sakewitz
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
A woman court-ordered to stay away from animals was found Tuesday in a Tigard extended-stay hotel with rabbits, authorities said.
It was just the latest problem for 47-year-old Miriam Sakewitz, who has served jail time in the past over a sometimes bizarre case of animal abuse and hoarding.
Back in 2006, police found nearly 250 rabbits at her Hillsboro home, 88 of which were dead and in freezers. After the animals were confiscated, she broke into a police facility and took back more than 140 of them.
She was eventually convicted of animal neglect and tampering with physical evidence, among other charges. She received probation and was ordered to refrain from owning any domestic animals. But in 2007, she served three days in jail for violating her probation when she was discovered raising rabbits again.
In 2008, police found a dog and rabbit in her garage when they went to her home to check a report she was suicidal, another violation of her probation. The outcome of that case was not immediately clear.
In the latest incident, Tigard police said an employee of Homestead Suites at 13009 S.W. 68th Parkway called police about 3 p.m. Tuesday after a maintenance worker discovered caged rabbits in a room. Police had to forcibly enter the room, and, once inside, found Sakewitz there along with several cages, a small kennel housing rabbits and other rabbits roaming the room, police said.
Washington County Animal Services confiscated eight adult and five baby rabbits from the room. A dead baby rabbit was also found there, police said.
Sakewitz was taken into custody on a parole violation detainer and lodged in the Washington County Jail. Under the terms of her probation, she continues to be prohibited from owning animals.
Case UpdatesAn Oregon woman obsessed with bunnies has been ordered back behind bars after police found her in a hotel room with more than a dozen rabbits.
Washington County Circuit Judge Gayle Nachtigal ruled Thursday that 47-year-old Miriam Sakewitz violated her probation by having the rabbits. The judge sentenced the woman to 90 days in the county jail.
Police arrested Sakewitz June 16 after she called a maintenance worker to her room in the Portland suburb of Tigard to fix a broken television set. The worker saw and smelled the rabbits, some of them hopping free.
The woman's legal problems began in 2006, when Hillsboro police found more than 150 rabbits in her home and dozens more bunny bodies in freezers. She was arrested on accusations of animal neglect. After pleading no contest, she was placed on five years probation, with one condition being that she stay away from rabbits.
Tigard Police spokesman Jim Wolf said Washington County animal control officers removed eight adult rabbits, five young ones and a dead one from the hotel room in the latest incident.
Washington County probation officer Bob Severe said Sakewitz had undergone a court-ordered mental evaluation but that no treatment was recommended. | Source: Associated Press via Google News - July 3, 2009
Update posted on Jul 5, 2009 - 8:28PM |
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