FALL RIVER — Miranda Rosyski, 21, was arraigned on 13 counts of animal cruelty in Fall River District Court Tuesday following charges stemming from a Jan. 8 incident at 119 Howland Road, Freetown.
That’s when Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals officials found a gruesome site of emaciated dogs, including one that had been partially eaten by other dogs on the property.
According to court documents, an automatic plea of not guilty was entered on behalf of Rosyski. Fall River Judge Therese M. Wright released Rosyski on personal recognizance and under special conditions that she not own or have direct/purposeful contact with animals.
Rosyski is scheduled to return to court May 6 for a pretrial hearing, according to court documents.
More than 27 animals were removed from the Howland Road property in what officials called a “disturbing” case of animal cruelty. The investigation, led by the MSPCA-Angell law enforcement department and the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office, said 18 goats and nine dogs were placed in the custody of the MSPCA’s Adoption Centers after they were surrendered from the residence.
Three dogs were found dead at property, according to the DA.
Freetown Animal Control Officer Lisa Podielsky told The Standard-Times last month that no one lives at the house anymore and she was not aware of the animals that were there until MSPCA officials arrived. According to the complaint, the house is in foreclosure and Rosyski is living in Acushnet. The Howland Road home belonged to Rosyski's mother, the complaint noted.
According to the complaint, Rosyski admitted to the animal control officer that the conditions of the dogs in the barn were bad and that she was overwhelmed and needed help.
The barn was described in the complaint as having feces and urine all over, garbage cans full of discarded shavings soaked in urine and feces that hadn’t been removed, empty bags of food and dense cobwebs. The air was “thick and hard to breathe due to the intense ammonia smell from the urine and feces soaked floorboards.”
Several goats at the property, described as Nigerian Dwarfs, appeared to look lean, and some had runny eyes and crusty noses, suggestive of upper respiratory infections, Weiand’s report said. One goat was missing fur and hunched over and appeared to have trouble walking.