PETA Calls for Cruelty-to-Animals Charges Against Alleged Bird Hoarder
For Immediate Release:
October 31, 2012
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Aurora, Ill. -- This morning, PETA sent an urgent plea to Aurora Police Chief Gregory Thomas and other local officials calling on them to review the case of Dave Skeberdis and—if appropriate—to charge and prosecute him for cruelty to animals. News sources state that a city contractor found 355 live birds and 125 dead birds in his home, which was covered with feces and garbage and has since been condemned. Skeberdis also reportedly failed to meet a city deadline to clean up his property.
Skeberdis has admitted to being an "animal hoarder"—someone who obsessively accumulates and neglects animals. PETA is therefore requesting that, if charged, tried, and convicted, he be prohibited from owning or harboring animals and required to undergo a thorough psychological evaluation followed by counseling.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.
PETA's letter to Aurora Police Chief Gregory Thomas and other officials follows.
October 31, 2012
To:
Chief Gregory
Thomas, Aurora Police Department
Sue Knight, Director, Aurora Animal Control
Alayne M. Weingartz, Corporation Counsel, City of Aurora
From:
Kristin Simon,
Senior Cruelty Caseworker, PETA
Re:
Request for
criminal charges in Aurora bird hoarding case
We hope this letter finds you well. We write again today to request that criminal charges be filed in the animal hoarding case involving Aurora resident Dave Skeberdis. According to news sources, a city contractor found 355 live birds and 125 dead birds in Skeberdis' home after Skeberdis failed to meet the city's deadline to clean up the feces- and garbage-filled property. Reports indicate that Skeberdis claims he wasn't aware that more than 100 birds had died because he had no light or power to the home.
Illinois' Humane Care for Animals Act requires that animal custodians provide necessary food, water, shelter, veterinary care, and humane treatment. Sec. 2.10 of the act legally defines a "companion animal hoarder" as a person who "(i) possesses a large number of companion animals; (ii) fails to or is unable to provide what he or she is required to provide under Section 3 of this Act; (iii) keeps the companion animals in a severely overcrowded environment; and (iv) displays an inability to recognize or understand the nature of or has a reckless disregard for the conditions under which the companion animals are living and the deleterious impact they have on the companion animals' and owner's health and well-being." The case in question appears to meet each of these standards unequivocally.
Respectfully, we ask that cruelty-to-animals charges be filed against Skeberdis. Hoarders are notorious repeat offenders, and only vigorous prosecution with careful sentencing recommendations (including court-ordered mental evaluation) will preclude recidivism. On behalf of our thousands of members in Illinois, we thank you for your time and consideration and for the difficult work that you do. May we hear from your offices soon?
Sincerely,
Kristin Simon
Senior Cruelty Caseworker
Cruelty Investigations Department