Latest news with #Haugland
Indianapolis Star
09-07-2025
- Indianapolis Star
Responders sickened by animal cruelty case after they found dead kittens in freezer, starved cats
A recent Evansville, Indiana, police report describes a horrific scene with dead kittens packed in a freezer, more long-dead cats and a house full of maggots and "brown matter." Responding officers described a scene with a strong ammonia odor that burned their eyes. One of them threw up. "I observed litter boxes with feces," one officer wrote. "The feces that was once solid had now become liquefied. Maggots moved in and around the litter boxes appearing to have not been touch(ed) for a significant amount of time." Officials described a "brown matter" on the stairs to the basement that appeared to be "a mix of animal feces, mold, and other unknown substances." It was so slick, they needed to use the handrail. Martin L. Haugland, 65, of Evansville, faces 10 misdemeanor animal cruelty charges. He says he's innocent. The statute under which Haugland was charged appears under the legend, "Abandonment or neglect of vertebrate animals," in Indiana Code. It states, "A person who: has a vertebrate animal in the person's custody; and recklessly, knowingly, or intentionally abandons or neglects the animal; commits cruelty to an animal, a Class A misdemeanor." Haugland told the Courier & Press that the cats were never his and belonged to the man who owned the house and died recently. But Abbi Fahse, an officer with the Evansville Police Department's humane unit, said Haugland had established residency in the house. "Even though (the cats) didn't physically belong to (Haugland), he still lived in that house for an extended period of time, which makes him just as responsible as (the homeowner) — which if (he) were still alive, he'd face the same charges," Fahse said. "He still had just as much control as (the homeowner) did, to the cats." Haugland told the Courier & Press that the deceased homeowner had planned to bury the cats officials found in a freezer. Read the full Courier & Press story: Evansville officer describes house of horrors in animal cruelty case The charges are misdemeanors and not felonies, Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Diana Moers said, because they stem from the allegation that 10 cats under Haugland's care and control at 919 E. Mulberry St. — eight cats that were still alive plus the two on the basement floor — suffered starvation and dehydration, not physical injury or abuse. "We would have charged (Haugland) with more if we could have," Moers told the Courier & Press. "It's just really unfortunate that the (Indiana) animal statutes don't reflect the severity of these crimes, in my opinion." There were actually 18 cats total, dead and alive, in the house on Mulberry, according to EPD's Humane Unit. The 10 separate cruelty to an animal counts that Haugland faces account for the eight cats found alive and the two that were dead on a floor. The eight dead cats found in a freezer — six of which were kittens — aren't part of the criminal case against Haugland, officials said, because they do not know the cause of death. Abbi Fahse, an officer with EPD's Humane Unit, said Haugland had established residency and had — like the homeowner — failed to tend to the cats' litterboxes. Ever. Fahse's report stated that Haugland told her the homeowner "never" cleaned out the litterboxes, and neither did he. The two dead cats found in the basement had been dead for a long time, according to the police report — one near the bedroom Haugland once used. Haugland said he didn't know about them, and he'd since moved to a room upstairs. After a necropsy, officials found the two cats had died of starvation and dehydration. Haugland said those cats probably died when the homeowner was in the hospital. They were "sick anyway," he said. Harrison Maglinger, one of the officers who responded to the scene, had to leave the basement to vomit; and both he and Fahse contracted fleas from the home, according to the report. The house's main floor also had brown matter covering the stairs, furniture and ceiling fan, the report said. In the bathroom, officers found a bathtub full of grey, foggy water and a toilet with mold and maggots moving along its base. According to Fahse's report, Haugland told her the homeowner fell sick three years before his death and stopped cleaning the house. Local trap neuter return (TNR) nonprofit Feline Fix filed a complaint about the property at 919 E. Mulberry St. in Evansville Feline Fix trapped cats inside and outside the house and took control of their care. Representatives of Feline Fix said the cat food Haugland left was covered in feces and bugs. Any water he may have left was long gone, said Feline Fix founder Jamie Taylor. Feline Fix said the property had been abandoned, but that Haugland was the last known resident. Others are reading: Woman on federal probation for 'animal crushing' found with dogs, cats
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
EDITORIAL: Ways we can help Haiti
The images flashed on TV and published in the daily papers show a grim situation in Haiti. Yet without being there, few of us will ever know the pain and hardship that Haitians now face. Still, we can help. People in the Hutchinson area, just as across the world, are responding with an outpouring of support. The American Red Cross and Salvation Army are worthy organizations that deserve donations and will do a great deal to provide relief to those affected by this tragedy. Other relief organizations, some based right here in Minnesota, are worthy of support, as well. On Friday we talked with two Hutchinson women, Beth Gasser and Cindy Haugland, who have been to Haiti and have high praise for three agencies tied to Rotary International that are already working there: < Shelterbox is an immediate-response program that provides equipment and teams on the ground quickly in disaster areas. Shelterbox teams arrived in Haiti last week to provide relief. For more information, visit < Haiti Outreach is a Minnesota-based and Rotarian-led organization that has teams on the ground in Haiti with more than 20 years of experience building infrastructure such as wells and equipping schools. Visit < The Web site is promoting several options for Rotary Clubs and other organizations looking for ways to assist in Haiti. Mss. Gasser and Haugland traveled to Haiti two years ago and spent two weeks there on a mission conducted by Rotary International. They saw firsthand the work being done there. If your idea of a vacation to the Caribbean is spending hours sunning yourself on a tropical beach, this trip would not have been for you. The two women and 10 others spent almost all their time in a rural area near the village of Pignon. There they helped support efforts to drill wells and build school desks. They visited hospitals, orphanages, churches and schools to learn about Haitian culture. The experience was an eye opener, to say the least. The group reached Pignon by airplane, landing in a field at sundown. The plane barely made it back into the air that night, as there were no landing strip lights. In fact, the village had no electricity at all. 'It's quite the feeling when you're in a Third World country and you get dropped off in the middle of nowhere,' Ms. Gasser said. The group stayed in a deserted missionary compound outside the village. They mostly ate goat and Spam. There were no paved roads, homes were built of mud, and tarps were used as roofs. They had brought money, but there was no place to spend it. 'There wasn't even a store,' Ms. Gasser said. A couple of days, though, someone brought soda and beer to sell in the village. Travel to other villages was difficult at best. Roads were washed out and an entire day was needed to travel only a short distance. 'Even under the best circumstances it's terrible,' Ms. Gasser said. Ms. Haugland said what she saw in Haiti was 'the poorest of the poor.' 'It was worse than I expected,' she said. 'It was shanties and shacks and some people had nothing to eat.' She recalled being invited to one's family tiny home and learning that all they had to eat was an orange. Since last week's earthquake, the two women have been facilitating efforts to bring relief to the region. Help will be needed for a long time. 'The need is going to be just as great three months from now as it is today,' said Ms. Haugland, who hopes to visit Haiti again in a few months when travel conditions improve. Anyone who wants to donate to Shelterbox and Haiti Outreach, she said, can be assured that 'their money can be trusted to be used in the best way.' Ms. Gasser said Haiti Outreach has very little overhead and donors 'can make sure the money goes to the people who need it.' We checked out the group with the Charities Review Council of Minnesota and it meets all of the council's standards. Eighty-six percent of all revenues go directly to programs, far exceeding the council's 70-percent minimum standard. The two women's humanitarian spirits also run in their families. Both have young daughters who attend New Discoveries Charter School and are collecting donations for Haitian relief efforts there. The anguishing TV images of the Haitian people are not going unnoticed in Hutchinson. As Ms. Haugland noted, 'It's sad to see people who had nothing to now have even less.' But thanks to these women, there's hope. (Terry Davis is a Hutchinson Leader staff writer. E-mail him at davis@
