Sick, Neglected Animals Removed From Self-Proclaimed ‘Rescue’ Following PETA Investigation

For Immediate Release:
April 4, 2024

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Warsaw. Ind. – Following a PETA undercover investigation documenting that animals at Isaiah 11 Ministry—a local self-proclaimed “rescue” operation that has come under fire for animal neglect and for the claim that it provides “mental health” counseling to children and others—were left to suffer from open wounds, chronic illnesses, and severe infections without veterinary care (including a dying cat who was too weak to stand), Kosciusko County authorities have removed all animals from the facility and opened a criminal investigation into its owner, Linda Ozier. PETA has secured placement at reputable sanctuaries for the animals, including birds, pigs, and a goat. A donkey named Hosanna, who was overweight and whose hooves required care, was also removed by the local sheriff’s office.

Animal hoarding that causes neglect, including allowing animals to starve and die, is at a crisis level nationally. PETA’s investigation revealed that Ozier repeatedly failed to seek veterinary care for sick and injured animals at the facility—including Pearl, an emaciated cat whom the investigator found curled up in a ball, cold to the touch, visibly shaking, and reeking of infection. The investigator brought Pearl’s condition to Ozier’s attention multiple times, but she failed to act. After Ozier agreed to let the investigator adopt Pearl, the investigator rushed her to an emergency veterinary clinic, but despite days of intensive, round-the-clock care, a veterinarian determined that euthanasia was the most compassionate option for her.

Pearl. Credit: PETA

“Sick, injured, and dying animals suffered amid their own filth and the decomposing remains of other animals at this hoarder’s hellhole, which deprived them of care yet called itself a ‘rescue,’” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA is calling on authorities to file cruelty-to-animals charges against Ozier and bar her from ever owning animals again.”

Other animals denied veterinary care at the facility included a cat named Raven who had large, open sores behind both ears; a thin potbellied pig whose overgrown tusk had become imbedded in his cheek; and two turkeys with severe feather loss. One of the turkeys limped on a swollen foot, and the other was found dead just days later. Dogs at the facility were relegated to a feces-filled barn stall, some cats were confined to filthy crates in a trailer with a rotting floor that reeked of ammonia, and the liquefying remains of dead cats (and the turkey) rotted in coolers outside.

An estimated one-quarter of reported complaints of animal hoarding received by law-enforcement agencies across the U.S. involve self-proclaimed animal “rescues” like Isaiah 11 Ministry. Multiple PETA investigations have exposed similar unregulated operations that hoarded dogs, cats, and other animals in squalid, severely crowded conditions for weeks, months, and even years on end.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.