Animal Abuse Cases - Details

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Hoarding 118 dogs - (Mariposa, CA - US)

Crime Date: 10/29/2001
Case Status: Alleged

Case Report

Friends of Winifred Scarborough, who faces 109 counts of felony animal cruelty, defended the Mariposa County woman after a judge denied her request to be released from jail without bail.

Scarborough, 58, was arrested and booked into the county jail Oct. 29 after authorities seized 118 small-breed dogs and several cats from her rural home. Her bail was set at $50,000.

Scarborough has pleaded innocent to all charges and faces up to three years in prison for each count. 

Mariposa County sheriff's deputies said they found the dogs, most of them Lhasa apsos and Shih Tzus, living in filth and excrement at Scarborough's home on the 3400 block of Wildcat Road.

"The dogs had feces all over them," said Jeanette Lozano, manager of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Mariposa County. "All of them had lice, ticks, fleas and mites in their ears."

Scarborough's supporters, however, say their friend simply had a dirty house and was never cruel to her dogs.  "They just caught her on a weekend when she hadn't cleaned them," said Nadine Harrell, who attended Scarborough's pre-preliminary hearing in the Mariposa County Courthouse with her husband, the Rev. John Harrell of Hillside Baptist Church.

"I've never been around anyone in my life who's lived for animals the way Freddie has." Scarborough bred and sold dogs, although the SPCA in Mariposa says she is not a licensed breeder.

Almost 50 dogs were kept in her two-story, 2,000-square-foot home, Assistant Sheriff Howard Davies said. The other dogs were found in a barn and separate kennels behind the house.

A Mariposa County resident alerted deputies to the "puppy mill."  None of the dogs will need to be euthanized, and veterinarians said they are all "adoptable." The dogs are living with volunteers.

Scarborough has until Nov. 13 to pay the $24,000 cost of the sheriff's seizure. If Scarborough cannot pay, the dogs will become the property of Mariposa County and be put up for adoption by SPCA offices in Mariposa and the San Francisco Bay Area. The dogs will be vaccinated and spayed or neutered if the county turns them over to the SPCA.

The Rev. Harrell spoke with Scarborough after her arrest and says her greatest fear is that she will never see her dogs again.

"They have taken her livelihood away, and she hasn't even been convicted of anything," Harrell said. "She lived with these dogs; they were her whole life. She's going to lose everything she had because she had a dirty house."

Last week, the county's Health Department declared Scarborough's home was unfit to live in.

"Basically, there was dog feces all over the floor. But perhaps more important than that, there was raw sewage flowing from a pipe underneath the house and all over the ground," said Charles Mosher, the county's health officer.

Deputy District Attorney Shaun Quinn said that because Scarborough does not have family in the area and her home was deemed unlivable she is a flight risk and should be held on $50,000 bail.

Stephanie Smith of Fresno bought a Lhasa apso puppy for $250 from Scarborough in June after reading a classified ad.  Smith lived in Stockton at the time and met Scarborough in Merced at a restaurant parking lot. Scarborough brought four puppies and two adult dogs.

"Their hair was very matted, but she said they just had not been brushed that day," Smith said. "I guess I was kind of desperate. I wanted a dog right away."

Before Smith returned home with her new puppy, which she named Bajo, she noticed the dog had worms. A veterinarian said Bajo also had a hernia and fleas. However, Smith says she is happy to have Bajo in her home.  "I've put him in training, and he has been very well behaved," Smith said. "He's a pretty good dog."

The SPCA has been overwhelmed by calls from thousands of people eager to adopt one of the dogs. About 3,000 people have been put on a waiting list to adopt the dogs, which have been cleaned and groomed by the SPCA.

The SPCA of Mariposa County has received about 3,000 calls from people interested in adopting the dogs. Most callers have asked to adopt the puppies. The SPCA is still looking for homes for the adult dogs. To reach the SPCA, call (209) 966-5275. To donate money for the rescue and care of the dogs, call the Mariposa County Sheriff's Department at (209) 966-3615

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