Animal Cruelty

SPCA makes animal cruelty seizure from repeat offender in Balch Springs

One of the cats found at a house in Balch Springs.

Photo courtesy of SPCA

On May 31, a large seizure of cruelly treated animals was made at a home in Balch Springs, from a woman who was found guilty for the same offense in 2015.

Under the authority of the Balch Springs Police Department and the Dallas County District Attorney's Office's Animal Cruelty Unit, the SPCA of Texas and Balch Springs Animal Services seized 107 cruelly treated animals that included 57 cats, 36 kittens, 11 dogs, two deceased cats, and one dove.

According to a release, the animals were taken to the SPCA's rescue center in Dallas, where they will be evaluated by medical staff before a custody hearing takes place. Necropsies will be performed on the deceased cats to determine cause of death.

Inside the house, located at 2612 Tamara Dr. in Balch Springs, cats and kittens were roaming in feces-filled, urine-soaked rooms. One cat was found confined to a small, glass fishtank. Two deceased cats were found on the floor.

More cats and kittens were found in a garage behind the house, many confined to feces-filled wire crates, with no access to food or water.

Several additional deceased cats and kittens were found wrapped in plastic grocery bags in an outdoor trash bin, but were too decomposed to remove for further examination.

Two dogs roamed the living room, but most of the dogs were confined to small, wire crates in a separate bedroom with little to no access to food or water.

The SPCA of Texas measured the ammonia level to be 45 parts per million (ppm) inside of the house and 65 ppm inside of the garage. Short-term exposure to ammonia levels over 20 ppm or long-term exposure to levels over 12 ppm can cause health problems in humans.

The animals appeared to be suffering from health issues, including fleas, long nails, eye discharge, and nasal discharge. The majority appeared to be significantly underweight. At least one cat was missing an eye, and one kitten had a bloody nose. Another kitten received emergency treatment at the scene.

Balch Springs Animals Services first contacted the SPCA on May 23, after receiving a tip that the property owner had several cats covered with urine and feces.

An SPCA of Texas cruelty investigator visited on May 29, and was unable to make contact, but a strong scent of feces and ammonia could be smelled from outside.

The house is owned by Ferrell Pritchett, who resides in Forney.

This is the second time the SPCA has made a seizure on the same house. In August 2015, they seized 156 cruelly treated animals from the property, including 107 cats (five deceased), 40 dogs, three doves, two chickens, one finch, one deceased parakeet, and one guinea pig.

Dozens more deceased animals were found on the property, so badly decomposed it was not possible to remove them. A 69-year-old woman was charged and pleaded guilty to cruelty to non-livestock animals, a Class A misdemeanor.

The tenant listed as living at the house is Grace Cox, who is currently 72 years old.

That 2015 arrest occurred only after the SPCA of Texas and the city of Balch Springs received multiple complaints of suspected animal cruelty at the property over a period of a few months. At the time, an SPCA spokesperson speculated that the woman's "heart may have started in the right place and it got to be overwhelming."

A custody hearing will be held on Thursday, June 7, at 11 am at the Dallas County Government Center, Precinct 1, Place 2, located at 107 Texas Street, Lancaster, the Honorable Valencia Nash presiding. Criminal charges are expected to be filed in this case.

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Texas tragedy

Camp Mystic drops summer reopening plan over outrage by families, lawmakers

Memorial Service Held For Young Camper Killed In Hill Country Floods

Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Camp Mystic on Thursday, April 30 halted reopening plans on the Texas river where floodwaters killed 25 girls and two teenage counselors, backing down in the face of outraged families and investigations that accused the all-girls Christian camp of dangerous safety and operational deficiencies.

The decision, a striking reversal of the camp owners' determination to reopen, follows weeks of testimony in court hearings and legislative investigations. Those hearings laid bare the camp’s lack of detailed planning for a flood emergency, reliance on poorly trained staff, and missed chances for an evacuation that came too late as floodwaters ripped through the camp over the July 4 weekend last year.

“We never imagined a world without our daughters, and no decision made now can change that," Matthew Childress, father of 18-year-old counselor Chloe Childress who died, said in a statement.

The camp’s owner, Dick Eastland, also died in the flooding.

“No administrative process or summer season should move forward while families continue to grieve, while investigations continue and while so many Texans still carry the pain of last July’s tragedy,” Camp Mystic said in a statement.

A spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed Thursday that the camp has withdrawn its application.

The decision was praised by Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who opposed the camp's reopening while investigations were ongoing.

“I am thankful to hear that, today, the Eastland family withdrew their application,” Patrick said in a statement. “Given the tragic circumstances, this is the correct decision to protect Texas campers and to allow time for all investigations to be completed.”

The families of the victims packed the court and legislative hearings, often wearing “Heaven’s 27” pins with photographs of their daughters. They listened to the details of missed flood warning signs, the descriptions of the flood and the decision to leave the girls in their cabins until it was too late. The testimony included video of the raging floodwaters as a girl repeatedly screamed for “help!” somewhere in the distance.

Edward Eastland, one of the camp directors and a member of the Eastland family that owns and operates the 100-year-old camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River, offered a tearful public apology to the victims’ families on Tuesday.

“We tried our hardest that night. It wasn’t enough to save your daughters,” Eastland said, with the victims' families sitting behind him. “I’m so sorry.”

All told, the destructive flooding killed at least 136 people along a several-mile stretch of the river, raising questions about how things went so terribly wrong.

Texas health regulators have said they are investigating hundreds of complaints against the camp's owners. The Texas Rangers are also looking into allegations of neglect, according to the Texas Department of Safety, although the scope of the state’s elite investigations unit was not immediately clear.

The camp, established in 1926, did not evacuate as the storm rolled in and was hit hard when the river rose from 14 feet (4.2 meters) to 29.5 feet (9 meters) within 60 minutes.

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