Child taken from home full of birds

[blueroseaviary]

Child taken from home full of birds
By Bryan Corbin

August 30, 2004 ~

An Evansville house was so squalid from the droppings of dozens of pet birds that animal control officials ordered the birds’ owner to find new homes for them by today.

Child Protective Services took the man’s son out of the home, which had more than 80 birds, and placed him with a relative. The building inspector ordered the home closed to human occupancy until it is cleaned.

The stench inside 2831 Egmont St. reportedly was so foul the first police officer couldn’t stomach it long enough to fully search the house. Instead, the Evansville Fire Department had to inspect the home in protective hazardous materials suits, police said.

The case began at 2:27 p.m. Saturday when an anonymous tipster called Evansville police to complain about filthy conditions in the house and express concern about the safety of the residents’ son.

The residents, Paul and Julia Adam and their son, weren’t home when officer Rob Pylant arrived, so Pylant got permission from his sergeant to enter through an unlocked door. According to Pylant’s report, he was greeted by "massive amounts" of bird excrement, along with trash, debris and insects.

"At one point I literally walked through a wall of gnats and flies as I was attempting to clear the house," Pylant wrote in his report. "Due to the extreme filth and horrendous stench of the residence, I was unable to completely search the house."

More than 80 pet birds, including parakeets, cockatiels and parrots, were caged in the house, with at least one flying free inside. The birds had adequate food and water, and the Evansville Animal Control Shelter didn’t immediately have any space to hold them, so they were kept in the house through the weekend.

"We never noticed anything as far as feather loss to indicate they had been abused or neglected, other than the fact that (Paul Adam) had way too many and the house was in a deplorable condition," Animal Control director Vicki Kavanaugh said.
Later in the day, Adam was located and Child Protective Services placed his son, described in the report as an 11-year-old, with a grandmother, police said.

The parents were not arrested, but the investigation continues. Since police did not find the boy in the house, they are determining whether he was exposed to the "extremely hazardous" conditions, said Sgt. Stephanie Loehrlein, the Police Department’s spokeswoman.

Depending on their findings and those of Child Protective Services, police could ask prosecutors to file child neglect charges against the parents, she said.

Meanwhile, a code-enforcement officer from the Evansville Building Commission ordered the home closed to occupancy, the police report said.

Kavanaugh said Adam told her that he was attempting to breed the birds.

"We’re working with him to re-home them with other families," she said.

Adam already had placed 13 of the birds with family members by Sunday, but still had about 70 left inside, she said.

Kavanaugh ordered Adam to find new homes for the birds by 1 p.m. today or Animal Control would have to confiscate them, she said.

Adam will not be allowed to house pet birds in the single-family home in its current condition. After the house is cleaned and the building commission says Adam can resume occupancy, then Kavanaugh will reinspect it, she said.

Foster homes for the birds are preferred since a dog-shelter environment is very stressful on them and Animal Control has no room for birds, Kavanaugh said.

The squalor in the house was not limited to bird excrement, however.

"It was not strictly the birds by any stretch of the imagination," Kavanaugh said. "The birds in my opinion certainly were not the only problem in that house. That’s why the building commissioner was there."

[LtlWngdAngl]

that reminds me...I need to clean dewey's cage
Meant to this weekend, but got sidetracked...... :(

[Joel]

GET TO WORK LWA!!!!!

[blueroseaviary]

Birds continue to rule the roost
Ousted owners can visit home to feed pets

By BRYAN CORBIN and BYRON ROHRIG Courier & Press staff writers 464-7449 or corbinb@courierpress.com 464-7426 or blrohrig@evansville.net
August 31, 2004

More than 70 pet birds will remain at an Evansville house for the time being, after a veterinarian warned it would be more stressful on the birds to move them into foster care than leave them where they are.

The residents of 2831 Egmont St. were ordered to vacate the house Saturday after the Evansville building commissioner discovered fire and sanitation hazards and a structural hazard.

Until the order is lifted, the birds' owner, Paul Adam, can enter his house only to feed and water the birds, and he must be supervised by Animal Care and Control director Vicki Kavanaugh or one of her officers, Kavanaugh said.

Kavanaugh decided against confiscating the dozens of parakeets, cockatiels and parrots Monday after a veterinarian advised against moving them.

"To move them even to put them in foster care could cause stress. I don't want to hurt these birds; it's nothing they've done," Kavanaugh said.

Ultimately, if Adam wants to keep any birds in the house, the conditions inside must improve, Kavanaugh said.

Investigating an anonymous complaint Saturday, Evansville police reportedly found dozens of pet birds inside the house, along with trash and insect infestation. The odor from bird droppings was so powerful that the Evansville firefighters had to wear protective hazardous-materials suits, officials said.

Although police are investigating the incident as a case of possible child neglect, no charges have been filed against the residents, Paul and Julia Adam, regarding the care of their son.

After police discovered the home's conditions, the couple voluntarily sent the boy to stay with his grandmother, Julia Adam said. No one from Child Protective Services spoke to them over the weekend about their son, she said. "If we were going to be picked up (arrested), it would be better for him not to be involved, better for him to stay out and just go to grandma's," Julia Adam said. (A police report described the boy as being 11 years old, but the couple said he is 14.)

Kavanaugh said 13 birds are being tended by a family member but more than 70 remain in the house. Julie Adam said she didn't know how many birds were in the house before police arrived. "We feed them and water them and take care of them and don't have a count of them."

Paul Adam told the Courier & Press he acquired so many birds by watching for classified ads offering them for free. He said he was trying to breed them, unsuccessfully.

Asked if he ever thought he had too many birds, Adam said: "I never did think there is a limit."

Adam added that he hoped to continue owning his birds, perhaps at a different location. Regarding the foul odor in the house that police, Animal Control and other officials described, Adam responded that he had thrown away some meat that had gone bad in the freezer, and had not yet taken out his trash.

The complaint to Evansville police prompted the ensuing inspections by the city Building Commission and Animal Care and Control.

City Building Commissioner Roger Lehman issued an order to vacate the house because of fire and sanitation hazards and structural dangers.

Lehman turned over a file on the case to Greg Bryant, coordinator of neighborhood inspections with the Department of Metropolitan Development.

Bryant said he was unsuccessful Monday afternoon in reaching the owner of the property, Steven Jarboe. Jarboe resides, Bryant said, in Fort Pierce, Fla. Whether or not he reaches Jarboe, Bryant said a letter would be sent to him this morning. "I'm trying to get somebody on the hook for this," Bryant said.

Lehman said he judged a fire hazard existed because paper and trash were in contact with electrical cords and "other potential heat-producing equipment." Sanitation problems included toilets and bathing facilities that didn't work, Lehman said. The carport, he added, "was going to fall down at any minute."

The interior stank of bird feces "and possibly some rotting food," Lehman said.

City Corporation Counsel David Jones said the city legal department plans no action in the case beyond what code enforcement already is doing.

Justin Manning, vector and rodent supervisor with the Vanderburgh County Health Department, said his office also plans nothing. Manning said he has asked city officials to include his office in any inspections before the order to vacate the property is lifted.

Kavanaugh said that Paul Adam is cooperating with Animal Care and Control. "That is the reason we're working with him. I made it very clear that those birds come first with Animal Control, and that I would not hesitate to take them if he ceases cooperating with us," Kavanaugh said. "We both want the same thing: We want the birds to be taken care of."