By MELISSA N. WARREN / Review Appeal Staff Reporter

SILISKI

After a 4-1/2-hour hearing Monday, the Department of Children’s Services set the wheels in motion to get dog breeder Jennifer Siliski’s children into the care of each of their fathers.

Some 230 animals were removed from the Oakwood Estates home on Bowman Road last Thursday night.

However, the DCS was not alerted of “the “imminent risk to the children” until after the animals had been loaded into cages and taken to Williamson County Animal Control, said Carla Aaron, DCS director of communications.

Debby Leddy, assistant director of animal control, helped receive the animals on Thursday.

“It seems like there’s been so many cases in the past years concerning the elderly or children, when it takes the animals to get help for the humans,” she said.

Aaron was right — the first U.S. laws against cruelty were enacted in 1866 and directed at animals, instead of children.

Assistant District Attorney Bradon Boucek also was on the scene during the Jan. 22 “puppy mill” raid.

Boucek said yesterday that “it’s not surprising” how many people have been curious about the case.

“It’s always amazing how interested people get in dog stories. I would only be speculating on why, but I guess people are just dog lovers.”

The DCS had done six previous investigations into the Siliski home, but “the conditions were not such that we felt we needed to remove the children,” Aaron said yesterday.

“DCS had put Family Support Services into the home in hopes of working with Siliski to eliminate risk to the children. Removing the children is the most drastic measure we take ... and now we will work expeditiously to get the children back in a stable environment. Foster care is only a temporary arrangement.”

Aaron said Williamson County had 80 different children in foster homes during 2002.

“It is always a challenge to find a foster home, especially for sibling groups.”

In order to become a foster parent, applicants must undergo a 10-week process of training and police checks, but in cases where there is someone who already has a relationship with the child, DCS works hard to speed up the process, Aaron said.

In the Siliski case, DCS can choose from three different relatives close to the children — Michael Pruitt, Gilbert Whitaker and Alan Siliski, three ex-husbands who are fathers of Siliski’s four children.

Juvenile Judge Lonnie Hoover, who presided over the hearing, recommended the children be placed accordingly with the fathers if they are deemed acceptable by DCS.

Regarding the youngest child, a 10-year-old girl, Hoover suggested she be returned home with her mother as soon as possible because she suffers from Rett’s disease and has special equipment at the house.

Alan Siliski, Jennifer Siliski’s third husband and father of that child, agreed.

When Hoover asked if he had adequate facilities to take care of his daughter, Alan Siliski paused.

“I would recommend that she goes back home with her mother because she will regress quickly if she is moved from her normal routine,” Siliski said.

“She (the daughter) has very brittle bones and needs a special bed ... someone to feed her and bathe her.”

Defense attorney Rebecca Byrd told the court that DCS did not remove the bed when they removed the child, and that they did not take adequate steps to ensure the child’s medical needs would be met.

Yesterday, she said she believes Saliski will be vindicated about her care of the animals, but she declined to discuss other aspects of the case.

Hoover said he was tempted to send the handicapped child home, even though children should not be in such an “environmental disaster.” But the judge left the decision up to DCS and lawyer Bob Plummer, the Guardian Ad Litem who represents the kids in court.

When Hoover asked Michael Pruitt, father of Siliski’s 11-year old daughter, for the girl’s name, he rubbed his forehead.

“See, now, you’ve got me all nervous,” Pruitt said as he struggled to recall his daughter’s name.

Plummer and DCS workers refreshed his memory.

Gilbert Whitaker, father of the two oldest boys — ages 13 and 15 — enthusiastically confirmed that he had enough room to house his sons.

All three ex-husbands expressed concern about the welfare of their children and asked Hoover to “make sure the children are going to school.”

As soon as court ended, officials recorded the personal information of the three different fathers. DCS officials will begin evaluations as to whether or not the fathers’ residences and care will be suitable, Aaron said.

For more information on becoming a foster parent, call (877) 327-5437.


Staff Reporter Melissa N. Warren can be contacted at melissa@reviewappeal.com.