Officials remove 400 animals from Citra home

The Ocala Star-Banner ^ | August 28, 2009 | Staff Report

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Authorities removed 432 animals from a Citra home Thursday and Friday, to the delight of neighbors who say the menagerie was noisy and unsightly.

Almost 200 animals were living cramped inside the home, including more than 150 birds, 37 dogs and two cats. The rest, including 23 goats and sheep, 74 geese, 15 turkeys, some exotic birds, snakes and gopher tortoises, were scattered around the fenced, half-acre lot in a rural area of Citra, officials said.

Dawn Stephen, an animal compliance official for Marion County, said authorities became aware of the problem when paramedics were called to the residence to treat the female homeowner for a medical condition. They ended up taking the woman, identified as Ileana Verguizas, to the hospital. The exact nature of Verguizas’s medical problem was not immediately clear.

The paramedics then alerted county officials about the animals.

Stephen said animal control officers spent most of Thursday and Friday rounding up the animals and transporting them to the Marion County Animal Center, where their health was being evaluated and they were receiving baths.

Although many of the animals were unclean, Stephen said most of them didn’t show any obvious signs of abuse or malnutrition.

“They were not in horrible shape,” Stephen said. “There’s a lot of battling for food going on because there’s just too many of them. But other than that, they’re not that bad.”

Still, county officials expect to charge Verguizas and Andrew Gonzalo Perez with animal cruelty, according to a press release from Marion County officials.

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[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

This is unusual in that dozens of different animal species were being kept by this couple

[Dallas59]

[Gaffer]

And the lion pair looks at each other with grins, “Ah!! Buffet tonight!”

[Battle Axe]

Ever been around geese? It probably wasn’t the smell, but the noise.

[bikerman]

We had 4 geese at one time they were great to keep out Jehovah's witnesses who came by from time to time. Great watch dogs err geese. One egg makes 4 omelets.

[goat granny]

Agree, I had geese when I had the farm, and they would attack any car than came up the driveway...also better watch dogs at night, they would raise a ruckus and alert the dog....They also camped out at night next to the pond for a quick get away if needed...The African goose, (named godzilla) was nasty even though I raised him from a 2 week old gosling...

There is nothing like a goose with a 4-5 foot wing span running at you full tilt with his long necked head down to get you back in your car quick..

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

There is nothing like a goose with a 4-5 foot wing span running at you full tilt with his long necked head down to get you back in your car quick.

Actually I think that a swan with a 7-9 foot wing span and a louder honk is even more intimidating.

[goat granny]

Your right on that and swans are much more agressive...beautiful but too mean to keep as a pet...:O)

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

I think a swan might be OK if you raise it from an egg and it imprints on you when it hatches.

[goat granny]

Well, when Godzilla was little, he would follow me around the farm and if he got close to the other geese, they would chase him away. When he didn't have to be in the back room anymore, had all his feathers and grown like a weed, I put him outside. It was fun watching him get close to the other 4 geese. He would sleep about 10 feet away from them until they accepted him...Then he took over the ganders job of protecting the 3 females and turned into a mean little S O B. When I sold the farm, the geese, chickens and bantams stayed...It took the people I sold the farm too a while to learn how to handle him....

The funny thing was when he would come running after you, if you stood your ground, that long neck was easy to grab. You just had to make sure you got him right behind the head so he couldn't turn around and get you...Their beak is serrated like a steak knife...

I would grab him and life him off the ground by his neck until only his big orange toes touched the ground, then run across the back yard with his feet trying to keep up and then toss him a couple of feet away after the run...He left me alone, but not others....You just don't turn your back on him or our nasty White rock rooster...Hubby finally got tired of being attack by the rooster and he did him in....Never get a Pollock with a Ax pissed at you. :O)