40 dogs, 16 cats, 14 chickens, 7 ducks, 2 macaques, 4 goats, 2 donkeys, a rabbit and a potbellied pig were rescued from a house near Akron in northwest Iowa.

It took 20 officers and volunteers about eight hours to pack up the menagerie seized from 61-year-old Bonnita Dow's home after a search warrant was served.

Plymouth County Sheriff Mike Van Otterloo said there had been complaints about the condition of the animals.

Most of the seized animals were taken to the Siouxland Humane Society, but the monkeys were taken to the Animal Rescue League in Des Moines, due in part to the possibility of disease. Van Otterloo said some livestock were taken to a farm near Kingsley.

A judge will decide where a permanent home for the animals will be.

The sheriff said the house had been vacant for several years and the animals had taken it over and that the area was surrounded by a chain-link fence.

Update 10/6/05:  An Akron, Iowa, woman pleaded guilty to several counts of animal neglect 10 months after 87 animals were seized from her rural home.

Just prior to a Plymouth County District Court bench trial, Bonnita Rae Dow, 61, reached an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to 12 counts of animal neglect, each a simple misdemeanor. The agreement was that the remaining 46 counts of animal neglect would be dismissed by the state.  Sentencing will be on Nov. 28, 2005

After a warrant to search Dow's property was obtained on Dec. 7, 2004, 87 animals were seized from 13797 Dogwood Ave., after they were determined to be inadequately cared for. Several dead animals were also found on the property, and feces 4 inches deep was found in some animal carriers.

Most of the animals taken from Dow's found homes within a matter of days.

In January, Dow was ordered to pay $12,000 in court and other costs of providing care to the animals. In making that ruling, Iowa 3rd Judicial District Judge James D. Scott wrote that while Dow"was ultimately unable to properly care for these animals, she was initially motivated by compassion."

Update 11/29/05:  Bonnie Dow of Sioux City was sentenced to one year of probation, including a mental health evaluation, and to own no more than the five dogs and four cats she now has.  Her sentence included suspended 30-day sentences on the counts and an order to pay restitution of $11,788 for costs associated with handling the animals.

In a Dec. 28, 2004, hearing a judge ruled the "threatened animals" had not been provided an adequate facility, supervision or feeding. Plymouth County Magistrate Robert Dull said the videotapes he had seen of Dow's property when the animals were removed showed "the conditions at that place were not good." While Dow asked that it not be a requirement, Dull ruled "a mental health evaluation is appropriate" for her.

In an interview, Dow said she's a good steward of animals, and did "not want to plead anything," but did so on advice of her attorney, John Moeller of Sioux City, to bring the legal matters to a conclusion. She said "I will admit it was not the cleanest," but added the animals "weren't locked in filth" and "they were well fed." Yes, "the cats were dirty, they were poo-pooing, but they weren't living in it," Dow added.

Crying out of worry that she had embarrassed her relatives, Dow wanted to dispel that she was a "hoarder" of animals.  "I listen to myself being described as a hoarder," she said, "as causing cruelty to the animals, that I had mental problems. I am a dumb cluck who will help any animal or person who needs help."

While Siouxland Humane Society executive director Jerry Dominicak has been critical of her care, Dow said she sees herself as relieving some of the burden of the humane society with her efforts. Dow contended she's been repeatedly targeted by miscreants who shot her dogs.

Of the day her property was searched and the animals impounded, Dow said, "They just came at a very bad time. If they had come at another time -- well, they would have found what they wanted to find."

Dow, 62, who lives with an ailing sister in Sioux City, explained she cared for the animals on a long-distance situation for the past eight years. She works nights and contended she traveled virtually every day out to the rural Akron, Iowa, farm to feed and water the pets.

Dow recounted several veterinarian bills she's paid over the past several years, with it not being uncommon for her to pay hundreds of dollars for repeated treatments of the animals. She described paying $8,500 for a fence to keep the animals enclosed on the farm and the installation of industrial fans to cool them. "My feed bill was $250 to $300 a week," Dow said.

It all made for a big expense, Dow acknowledged, but she said, "They were my life. I did nothing, I did nothing for entertainment. I did it all for them."

In a letter read by Dull just before sentencing, Sloan, Iowa, veterinarian Dr. Dianne Johnson wrote that Dow had her animals vaccinated and that Johnson had personally spayed 85 of her dogs and cats over 13 years.

"A couple of times (Dow) had trouble with her well and had to lug buckets full of fresh water from Sioux City every day," Johnson wrote. "She would do anything for her pets. She would have gone without eating before she would have let them go without food."

Dow said she has had a love of animals since her youth. "Even when I was little, I would bring in birds," she said. "Anything that needs help, I can't turn my back on them."

Her taking in of multiple animals began with a stray dog and two donkeys back in 1989. Dow took them in on her rented Hornick, Iowa, residence, then moved to the rural Akron property in 1993 when the number of animals required a bigger place. Dow said she soon found the Akron acreage had too many problems to be continued as her residence, so she moved into Sioux City in 1997.

As for the disorder and filth cited by the officials, Dow admitted "this house was a mess, but I didn't consider it a house. I didn't live there."

She said people heard about her goodwill to animals, that she would take on pets who had no other options of care. "I would come home from work, and there they would be puppies," Dow said. "I can't say 'No.'"

A civil judgment for the same $11,788 amount had previously been entered against Dow, but Plymouth County Assistant District Attorney Amy Oetken told the court a criminal judgment in the same amount would protect the county in case Dow filed bankruptcy.

Oetken asked the judge to consider 145 letters from community members regarding Dow's situation. Dull said 95 percent of the letters appeared to be form letters from the humane society.

Reference:

The Sioux City Journal

KCCI TV