Connecticut Woman Appeals Court's Decision to Rehome 22 Dogs...

Dog Owner Appeals Decision
Town: 22 Shih Tzus Are Too Many
December 16, 2006

By GREGORY SEAY, Courant Staff Writer

WEST HARTFORD -- The owner of 22 Shih Tzu dogs said Friday she has no plans to part with her "family" and has appealed the town's efforts to force her to remove most of them.

"I want my dogs till they die," dog owner Faith Kilburn said. "I love them. They love me."


On Friday, at 2:10 p.m., town Zoning Enforcement Officer Eva Espinosa visited Kilburn's Walbridge Road home to verify the number of dogs living there.

Espinosa said no immediate action will be taken, now that Kilburn has appealed the local plan and zoning commission's refusal Dec. 4 to modify a special permit allowing Kilburn to keep more than three of her dogs.

The commission granted Kilburn a special permit in December 2004 for the dogs but gave her two years to reduce the number of Shih Tzus living under her roof. She said the town had threatened to impose daily fines if she didn't comply.

Manchester lawyer Danielle Omasta said an appeal was filed Thursday in Superior Court in Hartford on Kilburn's behalf. No hearing date has been set.

Pat Alair, West Hartford's deputy corporation counsel, said the town received the appeal Friday.

"We believe the decision of the plan and zoning commission is legal and appropriate, and we will of course defend it," he said.

Omasta said Kilburn believes the commission acted "arbitrarily and capriciously" in denying her application for a modified special permit. The ruling also "was against the weight of evidence presented at the hearing," Omasta said.

That evidence included vocal and written support from many of Kilburn's neighbors, Kilburn and her lawyer said.

Kilburn, 63, who shares her stately two-story brick home with her 87-year-old mother, said media attention to her plight has sparked more letters, e-mails and phone calls - from throughout Connecticut and New England, and as far off as Arizona - in support of her retaining custody of her 11 male and 11 female pets.

"She's clearly a special example of someone who cares for those pets as well as her elderly mother," Omasta said.

Kilburn said she lives on Social Security and hasn't worked full time for more than a decade to take car of her aging parents and her animals. Kilburn said her father died in her home last spring.

Kilburn said many of her dogs require constant care, which would make it even more difficult to place them outside her home. Most require daily eye drops, several are going deaf, and at least one is going blind, she said.

"They're my life," Kilburn said. "I delivered those dogs. I'm the only person they know, besides my parents. Who's going to take care of these dogs the way I can?"

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I wrote a letter to the editor in response to the appeal:

I read Greg Seay's story about Faith Kilburn's fight to keep her 22 beloved shih tzuhs and felt compelled to write.

I've been involved in animal rescue for over 10 years and to say I've seen it all is an understatement. Cats and dogs living in deplorable, squallor, unsanitary condition. Animals being dumped off in the middle of nowhere to fend for themselves because their owners can no longer care for them. THOSE are the people you need to go after. Not Faith Kilburn.

Ms. Kilburn provides a warm, safe environment for all of her dogs. All are fed, loved and get the medical care they need because of her. Asking her to rehome her dogs is like asking her to give up her children. Where's the justice in that??

The laws in Connecticut need to change. Make it a law to spay, neuter and microchip EVERY pet. Stiffer fines and mandatory jail time for people who abuse, neglect and abandon their pets.

Please reconsider her appeal. Monitor the whole situation if you feel it necessary. If at anytime, the dogs health and well-being are in jeopardy, then by all means, force her to rehome her dogs. But leave the poor woman alone and concentrate on the people who abuse, abandon and neglect their pets.

RIGHT ON. They should go after the baddies, that is for sure!

I am curious to see if more people write in and say much the same thing.

Ya done good! :)

If she can prove they are all well cared for and not a nuisance to others, then perhaps she should be allowed an exception. With the provision that she not acquire or breed any more dogs, IMO. If she is getting letters of support from her neighbors, that's a good sign, IMO. We can then presume that the dogs are kept inside, are not noisy and she cleans up after them.

I do wonder though, is there a law in this town specifically stating that a certain number of dogs is the legal limit? I know within the city limits of the town I live near, one may only have three dogs. If there is a law, and it was in place before she aquired 22 dogs, then I have to question why she would deliberately break the law, and then ask for an exception to be made for her after the fact. I don't know that this is the case, just throwing out a question.

I found another article on this story. THIS one says that she has a written statement from the veterinarian that they are well cared for, and although it doesn't say specifically if she's 'breeding' them, it did mention that some of the dogs came from a litter that was born in her home. A health inspector visited the premisis and found it to be very clean surprising for having so many dogs.


Given the additional information, the support from her neighbors in the form of a petition on her behalf, and a veterinary statement...I'd have to say, leave the poor woman alone, she's doing a great job with a limited income and also caring for so many dogs along with her elderly mother!!

Wow what a story! I am going to agree with you Donna and say leave this lady alone! She has neighbors letters saying that they don't bother them and the vet. I hope she gets more letters like the one you sent!!!