Shelter "Worse" Than Home In Animal Cruelty Investigation

ANCHORAGE - On Oct. 6, Anchorage detective Jackie Conn executed a search warrant at a West Anchorage home.

"Pretty much every cat I saw had signs of respiratory illness, which is what happens in these kinds of situations," said Conn, who described the suspect, 54-year-old Deborah Allen as a "textbook hoarding case."

During the animal cruelty investigation, Animal Care and Control officers seized 32 dogs, cats and a bird.

"It just makes me angry, especially with people who should know better," said Conn. "People that profess to be there to help animals, and then you go into something like this, it makes me angry."

With two trucks loaded up, completely full of animals, Conn headed to Midtown to serve the second search warrant at Chateau Pampered Purr.

"She does claim to have an animal rescue type business," said Conn of Allen's animal shelter on Tudor.

According to the Department of Law, the state of Alaska has prosecuted 95 animal cruelty cases in the last seven years. In the past year alone, Conn said she investigated more than 30 cases of animal abuse in the municipality.

"We need more done," Conn said. "There's a lot of things that fall through the cracks, and a lot of people don't know a lot about animal cruelty."

Among the recent high-profile cases is that of Rosie, the cocker spaniel whose previous owner beat her with a belt.

"She was just covered with bruising and lacerations on her face and her ears,"

Then there's Harley, whose previous owner beat him so badly with a rifle, most of the Rottweiler's teeth were bashed in.

While lawmakers struggle to beef up animal cruelty laws in Alaska, Conn is working to shed light on the problem.

Once at Chateau Pampered Purr, investigators looked for an open window or door to enter the facility. They removed a screen, and entered through the window.

"Oh, the smell," said Darren Hernandez, a detective with Anchorage Police Department's theft unit. "I got a mask on. That's bad."

Conn leaned in. "Anchorage police," she yelled. "Anchorage police with a search warrant!"

Once inside, they detectives scramble out within minutes.

"I've smelled death before," Hernandez said, taking off his mask. "That's far worse."

"It's a Haz-Mat issue," said Sean Purcell, also a detective with APD's theft unit. "I got an instant headache walking through there. You're breathing in ammonia, nothing but ammonia. There's no oxygen in that place."

"The person who's taking care of this place is hoarding," Hernandez said. "There's a lot of stuff everywhere."

"Ten times worse than the other house," Purcell said. "There's close to 100 cats in there. The other one, you think, 'Ah, she's a sick lady.' But this one, this is criminal. This is not good."

"You can hear hacking," Hernandez said. "The cats are hacking."

Without respirator masks, the detectives wonder if it's safe to go back inside to continue their investigation. Conn calls the fire department to check on ammonia levels due to the noxious fumes from the cat urine.

"The levels are high," said Anchorage Fire Capt. Clinton Powell. "But I'm not getting any flammable gas reading, so the ammonia's not high enough to be in that range."

The detectives go back in to continue their investigation.

All area shelters are full, so the cats have to stay in the facility.

After the investigation, Allen is charged with 33 counts of animal cruelty - one charge for each of the 32 animals taken from her home, and one charge for all the cats in the facility.

News of Allen's arrest came as a shock to her friends, Sherry Lovell, who has adopted two cats from Chateau Pampered Purr.

"I just couldn't believe it," said Lovell. "This is not a criminal. Debbie is not a criminal."

Lovell said Allen "is always cleaning" the shelter and is known to many as a hero who "gives hope" to animals other people ignore.

"If I was in a position when I couldn't keep a cat any longer, and I could give it to Debbie to take care of, why would I take it to the pound, where I know they're going to get rid of it?" said Lovell, wiping away tears. "She really loved all those cats, all of them. From what I know of Debbie, this is nothing maliciously done on her part."

Allen declined to speak on-camera, but did tell CBS 11 News that she has never abused any of her animals, and if they were sick, she rescued them that way.

Tomorrow: CBS 11 News looks into whether Alaska's laws are tough enough on animal abusers.

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