On August 29, 2022, Sgt. Loiselle Jr. of the MSPCA law enforcement department, was called by Westfield Animal Control Officer Fitzgerald and Westfield Police Officer Turgeon to the Willows Apartments on Lockhouse Road in Westfield, after the remains of a dog were found in an apartment that had been recently vacated.
Sgt. Loiselle learned that 22-years-old RAMONA J. HOLLAND (pictured), had moved out of the apartment the day before.
Shortly after HOLLAND moved in on August 5, 2021, she brought to the apartment a Chow Chow puppy.
According to the complex’s management team, HOLLAND was repeatedly advised that a dog of that breed was not allowed in the complex, and to that effect, she was served with written notices on October 29, 2021, and February 15, 2022. Sgt. Loiselle was told that after this, HOLLAND stopped bringing her puppy outside.
However, Sgt. Loiselle learned from the complex’s maintenance foreman that “he knew that Holland was confining her dog inside because she was using disposable dog diapers that were consistently clogging the toilet, and he had to enter her apartment several times to do plumbing work.”
The complex management then decided to not renew HOLLAND’s lease, and as stated above, she moved out on August 28, 2022.
The following day, the maintenance foreman went to the apartment to clean it and found “large piles of feces covering the rugs and garbage on the floor.”
He had to shove the bedroom door open because something inside was obstructing it.
Once inside the bedroom, he found a large pile of fur that was causing the obstruction, but he did not immediately realize it was a dog. He then started combing through the fur to figure out what it was and noticed a decomposed paw belonging to a dog.
The en suite bathroom toilet was piled high with feces and was attracting insects.
The unscreened bedroom windows were open and there was evidence of both insect and bird activity in the room. The puppy’s fur was scattered on the rug, which was “from birds having pecked at the dog carcass.”
When ACO Fitzgerald and Westfield police officer Turgeon arrived, they found the lifeless puppy laying against the back of the door.
They noticed that the carpeting near the door had been torn up and that the tears extended through the carpet, through the carpet pad, and to the subfloor, which had “long scratch marks consistent with dog scratches.”
Sgt. Loiselle reported that inside the bedroom were a gravity feeder with two pieces of cereal, and a small black bowl, “completely empty and dry.”
On August 30, 2022, the puppy’s carcass was removed from the apartment to be taken to Boston for a necropsy that was performed by MSPCA pathologist, Dr. Pamela Mouser.
Dr. Mouser confirmed the carcass “was compatible with a dark brown/black Chow Chow breed.” She found advanced decomposition and mummification and reported: “The received remains had both mummification and prior insect activity, limiting postmortem evaluation regarding [the] cause of death. Mummification is thought to take several weeks to develop, depending on environmental conditions.”
Dr. Mouser further found many carpet fibers in the puppy’s fur that matched the torn carpet, and fibers in the dog’s claws consistent with the backing of the rug.
It’s unknown for how long the voiceless victim lay lifelessly in the bedroom, and whether HOLLAND was in the apartment during that time.
The complex’s maintenance foreman told Sgt. Loiselle that HOLLAND had not been seen for a month or two, and the puppy hadn’t been seen for six or seven months. He further said that during a heat wave at the end of July and beginning of August 2022, tenants complained of a “trash” odor near HOLLAND’s apartment. The tenant living in the apartment below HOLLAND, said that at about the same time as the heat wave, she reported a mass of maggots in her apartment. The foreman believes the maggots got into her apartment through an air vent shared with HOLLAND’s apartment.
According to complex workers and other tenants, on August 10, 2022, they noticed that masses of flies could be seen on HOLLAND’s windows inside the apartment. The management team emailed HOLLAND about the flies and although she did not respond, within two hours the window of her apartment was opened from the inside.
At one point during the investigation, detectives talked to HOLLAND’s uncle who told them that HOLLAND had been on a cross-country tour for two weeks and she had asked a friend to watch the apartment and her puppy, but when she returned, she found her apartment had been cleaned out.
From the investigation it emerged that HOLLAND told a friend that she was looking for a place to stay but the friend declined to let HOLLAND stay with her. The friend then called HOLLAND on the phone while investigators were with her, and Sgt. Loiselle was able to talk to HOLLAND.
HOLLAND said she was in Leominster but agreed to meet Sgt. Loiselle at the Westfield Police Department a few days later. The day before the scheduled meeting, Sgt. Loiselle spoke with HOLLAND and she told him she was in Ludlow and that she didn’t have a ride to Westfield. Sgt. Loiselle then offered to either meet in Ludlow or provide transportation. HOLLAND said she would call back to get the details about the provided transportation but she never did.
Sgt. Loiselle then filed an application for a criminal complaint and on September 26, 2022, a warrant was issued for HOLLAND’s arrest.
Fast forward to March 21, 2023, when the Hampden County Sheriff’s Office tells me that she was booked into the Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional Center and released at court on the following day.
On March 23, 2023, HOLLAND appeared in Westfield District Court before Judge John McKenna for her arraignment on charges of cruelty to an animal and cruelty to an animal as a custodian.
Judge McKenna released HOLLAND on her personal recognizance with a hearing scheduled for June 14, 2023.
If convicted of either animal cruelty charge, HOLLAND could face imprisonment in the house of corrections for not more than two and a half years and a fine of not more than $5,000 or some combination of the two penalties. Additionally, she would be required to surrender any animal she has custody of and be prohibited from working in contact with animals.
On a separate note, after HOLLAND was released on this case, she was ordered to be transported to Springfield District Court to face unrelated charges such as operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of liquor, unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and possession of a class D drug.
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