Ashes of More Than 200 Neglected Dogs to be Buried Tuesday

By Amber Woods

The ashes of more than 200 dogs once under the care of a Rockville woman will be buried at the Baltimore Humane Society’s cemetery in Reisterstown next week, drawing to a close a case of animal hoarding, according to the Baltimore Humane Society.

Judy Cahill, who ran what she listed in phone books as an animal rescue, was charged in 2009 with hoarding animals after police found more than 50 dogs and the remains of many others in a search of her home, according to The Gazette. 

Following a guilty verdict of animal neglect in Montgomery County District Court, Cahill was ordered to have no animals for 10 years. 

Cahill was said to have kept hundreds of dogs over a 30-year period.  The ashes being buried Tuesday in more than 200 boxes are believed to be those whose remains were kept in Cahill’s home from as far back as the 1980s, the humane society said.

Andrew Mazan, Nicodemus Memorial Park director, will be leading the dogs’ funeral service.

The service is open to the public and will begin at noon at Nicodemus Memorial Park at Baltimore Humane Society, 1601 Nicodemus Road, Reisterstown.  

Animal hoarding, considered a mental illness, is one of the worst forms of animal abuse and affects tens of thousands of animals in the United States, according to a press release by the Baltimore Humane Society.

Hoarders are known to keep up to hundreds of animals, usually leading to neglect, malnutrition and severe medical problems for the animals, according to the release.