The Pet Tree House - Where Pets Are Family Too : Rockville Woman Charged with 66 Counts of Animal Cruelty After 66 Dogs Were Seized from Her Home The Pet Tree House - Where Pets Are Family Too : Rockville Woman Charged with 66 Counts of Animal Cruelty After 66 Dogs Were Seized from Her Home

Sunday, July 10, 2016

Rockville Woman Charged with 66 Counts of Animal Cruelty After 66 Dogs Were Seized from Her Home


Montgomery County police charged a 47-year-old woman with 66 counts of animal cruelty Wednesday after 66 dogs were seized Jan. 1 from her home on Glen Mill Road in Rockville.

Police said Katherine Ting Tiong, of the 1300 block of Glen Mill Road, was attempting to operate an animal rescue service named Forever Homes Animal Rescue out of her home. However, when investigators with the police department’s Animal Services Division entered the property, they found numerous signs of neglect.

Police said most of the dogs were contained in soiled crates and were suffering from a variety of ailments such as eye and ear infections, urine-soaked fur and matted hair.

“This is the largest number of dogs ever seized in one case I’ve ever seen in my career,” Officer Jack Breckenridge, a 13-year veteran of the Animal Services Division, said Thursday.

Breckenridge said police were investigating a report about a dog bite when he first approached the house at the end of December. At first, he said he guessed there were 10 dogs in the house, but the next day when police returned with a search warrant, they discovered dozens of dogs.

“We entered the house and it was overwhelming the volume of dogs that were in the space provided for them,” Breckenridge said. “It was substantially less than what would be normally required for 66 dogs.”

He said loose dogs and dogs being kept in crates covered every space inside the house that wasn’t occupied by items being stored.

“Name a breed and it was probably there,” Breckenridge said. He added that there’s no special license required to run a dog rescue service.

Three of the dogs were in such poor condition that they had to be euthanized at the Montgomery County shelter, police said. Another dog died of unknown causes, which police are investigating.

The dogs have been cared for at the county shelter in Derwood since being seized. Police said several have been adopted, but many still remain at the shelter. Those that remain are now up for adoption, but some suffer from medical problems or behavioral issues, police said.

“In the past, we have seen Montgomery County residents step up and provide loving homes for our ‘special needs’ animals,” shelter manager Kate Walker said in a statement. Potential adopters are encouraged to visit the shelter at 7315 Muncaster Mill Road, Derwood, or call the shelter at 240-773-5900.

Tiong was released on bond after being arrested Jan. 1.

The Animal Services Division also released photos Thursday of some of the dogs before and after being treated at the shelter.

You can read the initial story here: Montgomery County, Maryland Police Seized 66 Dogs from a Rockville Woman's Home on New Year’s Day

Clementine, one of the dogs seized from the home on Glen Mill Road in Rockville




                          Wendell, left, and Clark, right, before being treated




                                  Clark and Wendell after. Photo by V. Ocampo

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