AR: Arkansas Woman To Be Sentenced for Animal Cruelty

Tammy and William Hanson

Animal Cruelty

Gamaliel, AR

October 21, 2005

The Baxter County Sheriff’s Department found an estimated 477 dogs, caged or roaming, living at the facility known as (EDNAH) Every Dog Needs a Home run by Tammy and William Hanson after conducting a helicopter fly over of the property on Friday, October 21, 2005.  The fly over was prompted by a rumor that more than 100 dogs, victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, were being held at the facility.

The Sheriff’s found the facility to have no permanent shelter or bathroom facilities.  5 Dogs were found dead on the property, some in torn garbage bags.  Some 50 dogs were running loose.  The dogs in pens/runs were found to have no shelter, no tarps or protection from the elements.  5-10 male & female dogs were found together.  Some of these dogs were injured and/or aggressive.  The largest pen/run had only 2 doghouses with 50+ dogs in the pen.

(photo courtesy of Kevin Pieper, the Baxter Bulletin)

The Hansons were arrested and charged with a Class A animal cruelty misdemeanor, which is punishable of fines up to $1,000 and up to one year in jail.  The Hanson’s were also banned from the property by a judge until November 17^th so that animal rescue groups could recover the dogs they had sent to EDNAH after rescuing them from the hurricanes.

Volunteers from the Humane Society of North Central Arkansas are taking care of the animals that remain on site.  One volunteer reports that at least 12 of the dogs had not been let out of their cages since they were brought to EDNAH after the hurricanes.  Another volunteer reports that when he went to change the litter for 2 young, gray cats, there was an inch and a half of crud—feces and urine—with maggots in the litter box in their cage.

The conditions at the facility were a nightmare.   Dogs were found standing in their own filth.  Many of the dogs were aggressive because their paws were burning and bleeding and in pain. When Tammy Hanson was released on bail, she reportedly told a local newspaper that the dogs were being cared for, that the cages were being cleaned daily and that the animals were being fed and watered daily.

Tammy Hawley, a program coordinator for the HSUS Southwest Regional Office has been deputized by the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office to be the incident commander of the emergency sheltering team.  The team consists of expert volunteers and trained dog handlers from the HSUS, Pasado Safe Haven, the ASPCA, the American Humane Association, the United Animal Nations and the North Central Arkansas Humane Society.

In 10 days these volunteers have built dozens of new dog runs, fed, watered, walked and provided emergency veterinary care for the hundreds of animals.

They’ve even built a maternity ward to house the new mothers and nearly 20 puppies.  They are in their own pens, on clean blankets and out of the chilling air and rain, with fresh food and water.  Best of all they no longer have to compete with some 30 other dogs for food and water.

Many of the animals are on antibiotics for persistent infections; others are being treated for parasites both internal and external, advanced heartworm, fight injuries and abscessed wounds.  The goal is to have all the dogs vetted, microchipped and photographed.  The photos will be posted at http://www.petharbor.com to give owners a chance to identify their animals.

As this casefile was being written the Baxter Sheriff’s Department is trying to get the Hanson’s to surrender all of the animals before the case goes to trial.

   

(photo courtesy of UAN)  This dog died from neglect alone in his cage.

   

(photo courtesy of UAN)   Two more dead dogs, one on the top left corner and one in the trashbag 

      

(photo courtesy of Mountain Home Pets)

Debris, feces, maggots and trash from the grounds filled 18 dumpsters

  

(photo courtesy of Kevin Pieper, the Baxter Bulletin)

107 dogs were victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and given to the Hanson’s by rescue groups such as Pasado Safe Haven and the HSUS as well as other rescue groups.  These rescue groups went immediately to EDNAH to correct the situation and to care for these animals.  Pasado pulled the 18 animals they sent.  All of the animals will be posted on http://www.petfinder.com as are most of the other Hurricane Katrina/Rita animals rescued.

Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery reports that several dogs have already been reunited with their original owners, including one dog whose owner was relocated after the hurricane to Texas.  Another dog was reunited with a local Arkansas owner who had reported the dog missing.

Note that the rescue groups desperately sought to relocate the animals in 48 states to get them out of harms way after the hurricanes and subsequent floods hit Louisiana.  It is estimated that some 400 animals went to EDNAH while the rescue groups were in the midst of one of the biggest natural disaster in the history of the United States.  Some interviewed the Hansons, checked their references, visited the site, and simply did not witness the conditions that were subsequently reported.  

Another reference was from a veterinary school that spoke highly of their involvement with EDNAH after the Hansons reported that some neighbors had poisoned their dogs and the efforts the Hansons went to to save the animals who had been poisoned.  Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine did a kidney transplant on a 6 year-old dog named Talitha owned by the Hansons in 2004.

Pasado bought and had delivered $11,000 of kennels for the Hansons.  When their staff arrived to retrieve the 18 dogs they found all of the purchased kennels in a pile and unassembled.

In our opinion none of these rescue organizations should be vilified for their efforts – our group was in New Orleans doing some of the rescues and nowhere in the US have we ever had such a problem to deal with.  What happened in New Orleans should be a wake up call for everyone all over the US to allow people's pets to go with them in the event of evacuations.

Upon further investigation it was learned that Tammy Hanson was previously charged with animal cruelty in Missouri but not convicted and was convicted of impersonating a medical doctor in Illinois in 1993.

At the court hearings:

Tammy Hawley who served as incident commander at EDNAH for the Humane Society of the United States testified in court that she had an average of 38 volunteers every day to help with the care and feeding of the dogs.  She arrived at the compound on October 24, 2005 and was there for two months.

Tammy (Hawley) testified about the conditions of the animals.  One dog, Della, had ear trouble and a tumor between her toes, as well as overgrown toenails which were embedded in her paws.  Many other dogs also had ingrown toenails; some had mange; other mattered fur.  One dog, known as Grandpa, had stones which made it difficult for him to urinate.  Max, a 3-legged dog, had maggots in his ears.  Another dog, Said, had a torn tendon which caused him pain when he tried to walk or run.  Brandon, another dog, had his left eye out of the socket.  The eye had to be removed.  Another dog was found with a broken back and had to be euthanized.

Investigator Randy Murray and Deputy Benny Magness testified that as they had flown over the compound while on a marijuana eradication project, and observed a large number of dogs running loose, others in cages and some that remained lying on the ground when the helicopter flew over.  There was trash and debris all around the property, as well as standing pools of stagnant water.

Update January 16, 2006:  Tammy (age 38) and William (age 41) Hanson were convicted on 20 out of 28 counts of animal cruelty.  They will be sentenced on February 23^rd.  Judge Van Gearhart barred the couple from owning or possessing any animals anywhere in the world.  Tammy was also arrested after the court hearing on a felony theft warrant from Missouri.  She is accused of steeling a dog from a woman in Lawrence County, MO.  As she was handcuffed in the courtroom, dozens of people, many local residents who volunteered to care for the dogs burst into applause.  William Hanson remains free on bond pending sentencing.  Hanson’s attorney Paul Ford indicated that they plan to appeal their convictions.

Update February 23, 2006:  The Hanson’s of Gamaliel, Ark failed to show up in court for sentencing.  Failure to appear warrants were issued for the couple by Baxter County District Court Judge, Van Gearhart.  The Humane Society of the United States is offering $2,500 for information leading to the capture and arrest of the Hansons.  Tammy Hanson was also scheduled to be arraigned on 6 misdemeanor charges from Missouri and 6 outstanding misdemeanor warrants from Baxter County for theft of property and tampering with evidence charges.  In one theft of property affidavit, a man who volunteered with the Humane Society to take care of the dogs at EDNAH saw his two beagles, which went missing a year before, on the property. Both were registered with the American Kennel Club. He told authorities he kept asking Hanson if she had seen his dogs, and she always denied seeing them, according to the affidavit.

In the other theft affidavits, Tammy Hanson is alleged to have stolen two dogs from the front yard of a woman's house in August 2004. They later were found among the dogs at EDNAH. In the third, she is alleged to have taken a dog in December 2004 from a woman who paid her to transport the animal to Washington, and she failed to take it. It also was located at EDNAH.

Update March 14, 2006:  The Hanson’s are still at large.  Prosecutor Emily Reed stated her office received information that the couple may be in Missouri.

Update 8/12/06:

Hanson may be using her maiden name, Doneski.  She and her husband, aided by her mother, have been adopting dogs from shelters in Missouri.  She states she specializes in aggressive breeds.  If you become aware of the Hanson's please contact your local police or HSUS.org.  Do not attempt to apprehend yourself.  They are fugitives at large and may be dangerous if confronted.

References:
HSUS
Pasado Safe Haven
The Baxter Bulletin
The San Diego Union-Tribune

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Update:

Arkansas Woman To Be Sentenced for Animal Cruelty
Friday, Sept. 25, 2009 @ 8:32PM CDT

More than three and a half years after being convicted on numerous animal cruelty charges, an Arkansas woman will be sentenced.  Tammy Hanson fled before she could be sentenced, but early this morning she was extradited from Vermont to Arkansas.  She's being held without bond tonight in the Baxter County Detention Center.  Hanson and her husband, William, were convicted in 2006.

In late 2005, investigators found nearly 600 abused dogs on their property near Mountain Home.  It was considered the worst case of animal cruelty in the nation at the time.

After skipping their sentencing, the couple moved to Vermont and were living under assumed names.  Tammy was arrested in mid-July and had been fighting extradition.  William was taken into custody earlier this week in Johnson County, Missouri.

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