Almost seven months after the competency evaluation was ordered, a Sanilac County couple are due before District Court Judge Gregory Ross for a review of those evaluations tomorrow morning.
The couple, 76-year-old Linda Holzhausen and her 73-year-old husband, Daryl, were charged last spring after 46 dogs, four cats and one bird were removed from their Greenleaf Township home , having been found by Sanilac County Sheriff deputies in deplorable conditions.
The deputies, accompanied by Sanilac County Animal Control, arrived at the home on Tuesday, April 4, 2023, with a search warrant for the Huron County Line Road residence after a neighbor called in the homeowner for breeding and selling animals while keeping the animals in poor conditions. Upon arrival, deputies and animal control officers could smell the home’s build-up of animal urine and feces from outside of the home. They ultimately found the animals throughout the home in cages soaked in urine and feces.
The Houlzhausens were arraigned on June 1 on three counts, including abandoning/cruelty to 25 or more animals, abandoning/cruelty to 4-10 animals and abandoning/cruelty to 1 animal, with the first two counts being felonies. Linda was also charged with a misdemeanor count of having an unlicensed dog. Initially due for a probable cause conference on June 13, 2023, the pair was instead referred for a competency evaluation, with reviews of those results scheduled and then canceled in August, September and December of last year.
While the Houlzhausens are scheduled to appear on Friday, January 4 at 8:00 a.m., they are also scheduled to appear for another review on Tuesday, January 9, at 8:00 a.m.
