A psychiatric evaluation has been ordered for a Newport News woman who was found living in a trailer filled with more than 50 animals. Their feces and other debris littered the trailer. Officials say it was so bad that crews entering the home had to wear hazardous materials suits.
The trailer sits in the 200 block of North Elm Street in Newport News in the Merry Oaks trailer park.
The animals, including birds, gerbils, rabbits, and other animals, are being kept at the Peninsula SPCA. The animals are reported to be in good condition, and many are adoptable, according to SPCA officials.
This trailer in Newport News housed a 50-year-old woman, about 50 animals, and thousands of roaches. For some time, many other residents of the Merry Oaks Trailer Park knew there was a roach problem at the home. �At dusk if you shined a flashlight on the yard, you could actually see the yard moving,� said neighbor Janice Graham.
Today, the suspicions were confirmed when officials found thousands of bugs coming from the trailer of a 50-year-old woman. For about a year, she lived among dozens of animals, thousands of roaches, and all of their waste.
�They say she didn�t believe in killing any bug or any animal,� said trailer park resident Melissa Phillips. �She said they deserved a chance to live.�
How could something like this go on for so long without anyone being aware of conditions inside the trailer? Neighbors say the woman was a very private person who did not want anyone to know about her business. A �No Trespassing� sign was attached to the entrance to her trailer.
Many of the animals were kept in cages that had not been cleaned and were swarming with bugs. The woman, whose name is being withheld pending charges, was warned two months ago about the health hazard in which she was living. She had ignored notices to clean up her property and living conditions. But it was not until code enforcement officials and animal control officers entered the residence today that they realized just how bad conditions were.
�It was deplorable and disgusting,� said animal control officer Chris Riley. �You couldn�t walk through the trailer without roaches trying to crawl up your pant leg and falling off the ceiling into your hair. Anytime you touched anything and moved it, there were roaches there.�
Officer Riley said that animal cruelty charges are pending, as the Commonwealth�s Attorney�s office awaits the psychiatric evaluation. Neighborhood MapFor more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.
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