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Posted on 04/11/2008 3:16:28 PM PDT by kiriath_jearim
ROCHESTER -- A reclusive, independent woman whose home has been ruined by hundreds of rats she calls "friends" has agreed to move into an assisted living center, and officials were scurrying to find one for her Friday.
Michelle Diller, 64, who had rebuffed efforts to help her by a wide range of agencies, changed her mind to regain possession of her cat, which was confiscated along with 11 caged animals -- four severely malnourished snakes, five mice and two rats -- Susanne Beauregard, Thurston County animal services director, said Friday.
"I told her I would let her have her cat back if she agreed to move," a relieved Beauregard told The Associated Press.
Diller told KOMO Television late Thursday she was ready to leave, but as of midday Friday she was still in the house and Beauregard still had the cat as agencies sought alternative housing and considered what to do about the rats, which have begun turning up in neighbors' yards on the outskirts of this southeast Thurston County town.
"Initially she was saying, 'You can't hurt them, they're my friends,'" Beauregard said.
"I don't have a problem with any animal," Dillard told the Seattle TV station.
Unlike the snakes, which were on the verge of death from starvation and hypochondria when they were taken to a veterinarian for recovery efforts Wednesday, the cat was plump and in good health except for a runny nose and eyes because of ammonia from the overpowering stench of rat urine and feces throughout the house, Beauregard said.
The county is likely to charge Dillard with animal cruelty over the treatment of the snakes, two boa constrictors, a corn snake and a king snake, "if that's the only way to assure that she gets a mental heath evaluation," the animal control director added.
The rats, apparently the progeny of a few that escaped after Diller bought them as food for the snakes, have gnawed through wiring, walls, cupboards and drawers, "so there's no lights or heat or sewage" disposal, Beauregard said.
She said Diller came to the attention of authorities through a concerned official from the Area Agency on Aging.
"It was known that she wasn't normal and that there were difficulties," but when authorities went to the house she was uncooperative and uncommunicative "so they had no way of knowing how bad things were," Beauregard said.
A neighbor, Alicia Oleachea, told The Olympian newspaper a white rat died on her lawn about a month ago, and another neighbor distributed a letter in the area with word that rats were escaping from the home.
Last month an animal services officer, Erika Ellenbecker, managed to talked her way inside and found the floor covered with rat droppings and the carpets squishy with urine.
"When my officer went in there, she could hardly breathe, Beauregard said.
For a time, she said, "we were hoping that perhaps she would let us help her with the snakes, but she wouldn't," Beauregard said.
Other pressing cases also preoccupied Beauregard and her staff until Wednesday, when a search warrant was served by her, Ellenbecker and personnel from the sheriff's and prosecutor's offices, each equipped with hazardous materials protective wear and a breathing apparatus.
"I wouldn't go in there without a hazmat suit and a respirator," Beauregard told The Olympian.
Rats ranging from white laboratory-type rodents to red Norway rats, apparently the result of interbreeding between wild and domesticated animals, were everywhere and could be heard scurrying and gnawing inside the walls.
Cupboards and walls were riddled with rat holes and the bottoms had been chewed out of all the drawers. The refrigerator was on, but otherwise the electricity seemed to be "very spotty. Nothing else worked," she said.
"The house needs to be razed and rebuilt," Beauregard said.
"This is going to be a big problem. These are not little rats. These are big rats ... maybe two pounds," she said. "They are not afraid of people. They'll come right up to you."
Diller apparently moved to Rochester from somewhere in California four or five years ago. She seems to have no friends in the area and her only known relative is a brother, also at an undetermined location in California, Beauregard said.
"She has no support system at all," Beauregard said.
“Unlike the snakes, which were on the verge of death from starvation and hypochondria...”
****
Snakes can be hypochondriacs?
Ben, the two of us need look no more
We both found what we were looking for
With a friend to call my own
I’ll never be alone
And you, my friend, will see
You’ve got a friend in me
(you’ve got a friend in me)
Ben, you’re always running here and there
You feel you’re not wanted anywhere
If you ever look behind
And don’t like what you find
There’s one thing you should know
You’ve got a place to go
(you’ve got a place to go)
I used to say “I” and “me”
Now it’s “us”, now it’s “we”
I used to say “I” and “me”
Now it’s “us”, now it’s “we”
Ben, most people would turn you away
I don’t listen to a word they say
They don’t see you as I do
I wish they would try to
I’m sure they’d think again
If they had a friend like Ben
(a friend) Like Ben
(like Ben) Like Ben
Cheesy ...
I believe they prefer to be called "Democratic Underground," actually. ;)
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Say WA? Evergreen State ping
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... ummmmmmm... ask them if they have any unresolved "issues" regarding their mother, maybe...? ;)
Puts me in mind of the movie “Willard.” Surprised she didn’t sic these on the authorities.
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