A resident of the San Bernardino Mountains community of Fawnskin was arrested over the weekend as a result of two separate investigations: one for child neglect after a doctor treated her 8-year-old daughter’s old wounds and one for animal cruelty after authorities discovered some 50 dogs in cages lacking food and water, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said.
Both the child and the dogs were seized for their safety.
A mountains resident said Tuesday, June 4, that both situations had persisted despite reports to authorities.
Joyce Stawarz, 63, is a moderator of the Big Bear Critter Connection group on Facebook, which assists with lost and found pets and publicizes available animals at the Big Bear Lake Animal Shelter, where she volunteers. Stawarz said in an interview that some of the dogs — mostly pit bulls, German Shepherds and huskies — were taken in by her shelter. The rest went to the Devore Animal Shelter, she said.
Many of the dogs are expected to be available for adoption, but Stawarz, who has worked in animal rescue for 30 years, worries about those who don’t find new homes.
“This is devastating to me,” Stawarz said. “I’m fighting back tears right now, that’s how catastrophic this is. Lives are going to be lost because of this. An animal being euthanized hurts me. That’s why I am taking this so hard.”
Stawarz spent Tuesday at the home on the north shore of Big Bear Lake where the dogs were seized, helping the owner clean up both outside and inside, where she said the counters, appliances and toilets were filthy. She said the owner, who lives in Michigan, showed up on May 30 to evict the woman, who was $6,000 behind in rent.
The owner was shocked to see the dogs in stacked crates, according to Stawarz.
The next day, May 31, deputies did a welfare check at the home, the Sheriff’s Department said, discovering that the woman had left her children alone for five hours to go smoke cocaine in Victorville. A report was forwarded to Child & Family Services.
Then on June 1, deputies again visited the property after receiving a report of the caged dogs. The woman, who said she was the dogs’ caretaker, was cited on suspicion of animal cruelty, the Sheriff’s Department said.
That night, deputies returned to investigate the health of the daughter. They summoned firefighters, who sent the girl to a hospital.
“Doctors from Bear Valley Community Hospital treated the child’s neglected wounds and released her from care,” the Sheriff’s Department said.
The Sheriff’s Department declined to describe the wounds or say how old they were.
Three children were removed from the home and placed with Child & Family Services. The woman was arrested and on June 1 was charged with one count of willful child cruelty, a misdemeanor. She was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail and was due to enter a plea on Tuesday.
Southern California News Group is not identifying the 44-year-old mother to protect the identity of the girl, who the woman is accused of neglecting.
Stawarz said she had been trying to shut down the woman’s dog acquisition for more than two years. She didn’t know where the woman lived but would see social media posts where the woman would ask to take in lost or abandoned dogs.
“I would call her out: Stop taking these dogs,” Stawarz said.
She said neighbors of the woman in the 39000 block of North Shore Drive had complained to county animal control numerous times about the odor and incessant barking on the property.
Based on her experiences, Stawarz said, animal hoarders who get in over their heads begin with good intentions but get undone by various problems.
The daughter appeared troubled as well, Stawarz said. She spoke to parents whose children know the 8-year-old and they said her hair was usually matted and she often smelled of urine.
“She would cry and beg not to have to go home,” Stawarz said.
