Woman has had nearly 300 animals seized

Dominoes have continued to fall for Jennifer Wood, the woman whose animals were seized from her southeast Cedar Rapids home last week.

Nearly 300 animals in Wood's care have either been taken from her or voluntarily surrendered since 1997, because of unsanitary conditions, according to a SourceMedia Group investigation. In the past week alone, she has lost control of at least 140 animals, closed her business and resigned from an animal rescue operation.

Wood, 36, recently agreed to give up nine more dogs, two horses and a few cats that she kept on a farm at 3136 S Ave. near North English. Iowa County Sheriff Robert Rotter said his office had taken several complaints about the number of dogs on the property.

Rotter said the animals appeared healthy and had access to food, water and shelter, but there was public concern that they weren't getting enough care. He said Wood agreed to give up the animals because she was “overwhelmed with all that is going on in her life right now.”

“I think we can all agree animals need more care than what is afforded them by Iowa Code,” Rotter wrote in an e-mail. “Dogs, being social animals, need much more than food, water and shelter.”

Wood bought the Iowa County property with Ken Wasson Jr. in 1999, about six months after she had 118 animals seized from her home in Cedar Rapids at the time, 1260 Houston Ct. NE. Wasson's daughter, Leia Gifford, 26, of Fallbrook, Calif., said 19 dogs, 16 cats, and other various animals lived in the house during the six months she lived there.

Gifford said Wood, known as Jennifer Hicks then, worked at a shelter and would routinely bring animals home, despite her father's pleas for her to stop. She said Wood feared that she would get caught with too many animals again, so she only let a few animals outside at a time.

The animals were fed, but would regularly urinate and defecate inside the house, Gifford said.

“I couldn't even cook, because there cats sleeping in pots and pans,” Gifford said. “There was fur everywhere.”

Records show Wood started a business in Hiawatha called The Puppy Playground in 2003. She had avoided charges after the 1999 raid – agreeing only to keep no more than six animals in a Cedar Rapids residence – and, at the time, the application for her state license did not require her to disclose previous animal seizures.

Dustin Vande Hoef, spokesman for the Iowa Department of Agriculture, said the application was updated in 2010, and now asks applicants to list previous convictions for animal abuse or neglect.

Back in the Cedar Rapids area, Wood got involved with At-Risk Animals Rescue and Rehab. One of volunteers in the group, Eric Holub, 43, of Marion, said the rescued animals were mostly kept at The Puppy Playground.

In an e-mail to SourceMedia Group in January, Wood said the rescue operation saved puppy-mill dogs and animals that had run out of time at other shelters.

“Many of them have never walked on grass, lived in a house or had much positive contact with humans at all,” Wood wrote. “…We try to get the animals into foster homes as much as possible, but there is always a greater need than there is people willing to foster them.”

By the time a state inspector arrived at The Puppy Playground last week, there were 60 dogs and 29 cats housed in the strip mall space. Inspector Stephanie Black noted extreme crowding and inadequate ventilation that led to an “overwhelming urine smell.”

“Sanitation especially lacking in grooming area, where strays are housed alongside animals of grooming clients,” Black wrote in the report. “Tub area unclean. Sanitation very concerning. Electrical cord hazards.”

Volunteers with the rescue organization have spent the last several days cleaning the space and removing the animals, Holub said. He said all of the animals would be taken to other rescues in Iowa by Friday.

“People knew (Wood) wouldn't say ‘no,' because she does have a big heart,” Holub said. “She had the right intentions, just not the right facility.”

Wood volunteered to resign as president of animal rescue group after officers seized 32 dogs, two cats and a parrot from her home at 308 30th St. Dr. SE on Thursday. One dog was dead inside the filthy home, and at least two dogs have required surgery since, authorities said.

Animal Care and Control Manager Diane Webber was scheduled to meet with the city attorney Wednesday to determine charges against Wood. Webber said the animals have made significant improvements.

“They are responding beautifully since being taken out of that situation and having day-to-day care,” Webber said. “They've just changed, almost overnight. They are progressing, and doing better, but it's going to be a long haul for some of them.”

Webber said Wood apparently moved animals around to various residences to avoid charges. Animal control officers made periodic visits to Wood's home in the past year to investigate neighbor complaints, but usually would not make contact with Wood, she said.

When the officers returned for follow-up visits, there were always fewer animals, and the problems appeared to be corrected.

Webber, who was hired in 2009, said she was unaware of Wood's past, and noted that all animal control records were destroyed by the 2008 flood.

“We do not have the manpower or resources to make weekly visits to one address,” Webber said. “It's very difficult to enforce.”

Wood has stayed silent as things unraveled. Multiple attempts to reach her and her family members have been unsuccessful.

Safe Haven of Iowa County has agreed to take the dogs and cats from the farm near North English. Board president Jill Smothers said she is convinced Wood had good intentions, based on their recent conversations.

“She means well,” Smothers said. “She just gets in over her head and doesn't have enough help.”