Cruelty Charged in Crating of 86 Dogs

A Burbank woman was charged this week with animal cruelty for keeping 86 dogs stacked in crates so small they could neither stand nor lie down, in a house in which temperatures reached 100, police said.

The dogs, most of them pit bulls, were found July 26 in Pam Miller’s house at 120 W. Linden Ave., police said. When officers entered the home, they reeled from the stench and heat, said Claudia Madrid, acting superintendent of the Burbank Animal Shelter. Fans meant to cool the house were too dirty to move air, she said. The dogs had no water, and at least one had cut itself badly trying to escape from a plastic crate.

“You never know what’s behind somebody’s front door,” said Burbank Police Sgt. Bill Taylor. “Every once in a while, the Police or Fire Department gets to open one of those doors and are surprised at what they see. This was a big surprise.”

Madrid said she was “surprised the dogs didn’t go insane. Instead, when we opened their crates, we had our faces and elbows washed, we were licked so much.”

Much of the home, including a garage, was occupied by dogs in crates stacked three high in some places, she said.

Miller, 51, was arrested Tuesday and charged with seven counts of cruelty to animals. She was released after posting $80,000 bail, police said.

Her arraignment in Burbank Superior Court is set for Aug. 29, police said.

Authorities described Miller as a once-reputable dog rescuer who became a dog collector. She left Burbank with about 100 dogs in 1999 the night before officers were to serve a warrant to remove the animals, said Police Capt. Gordon Bowers.

About three weeks ago, she left Riverside County with her dogs after authorities took her to court because of conditions in which she kept her dogs, Bowers said.

Neighbors told Burbank police that the dogs were back in Miller’s home.

“This happens to an awful lot of people,” said Madrid, who described Miller as a former friend. “They start running a very good rescue operation and then ... they think no one can take care of their dogs like they can. They think, ‘I love them. I can’t let them go. No one will be as loving to them as I will.’ ”

About three years ago, Miller placed a sign outside her home advertising dogs for $15,000 apiece, Madrid said.

“We knew she wasn’t trying to place the dogs anymore. She wanted to keep them,” she said.

The collecting of inordinate numbers of animals “crosses all socioeconomic levels,” said Ricky Whitman, public relations director of the Pasadena Humane Society. “There’s the case in Colorado of the elected official’s wife who turned out to be a collector. They had a ranch. Then there’s the people in the van packed with cats.”

Whitman said the organization had extensive dealings with Miller until 1997, when Burbank authorities revoked her kennel license. Until then Miller, as a dog rescuer, mostly took pit bulls from the Pasadena shelter.