Berwyn Animal Hoarders Defend Squalid Conditions That May Have Led To Teen Matthew Degner's Death (VIDEO)

The family of a Berwyn, Illinois teenager who was found dead in a squalid home filled with over 200 animals defended their animal hoarding in an interview with a Chicago television station this week.

Though Lydia Price, the 47-year-old mother who was charged with criminal abuse and neglect of a disabled person and endangerment of a child, has yet to respond to the accusations, her 77-year-old mother, Barbara told CBS 2 the days since the death of 14-year-old Matthew Degner have been "horrid."

"We've had not time for grief for Matthew with all the assaults and falsifications," Barbara said.

A sheriff's spokesman said the west suburban home where Degner was found was one of the most "horrific and disgusting environments" their animal control officers had ever been in. The house contained 212 animals including birds flying freely throughout the house, dozens of cats, dogs, rabbits, squirrels, a raccoon, two monkeys and two kinkajous -- many of the animals surrounded by feces. More than 100 cats had to be euthanized because they were ill. The children reportedly were homeschooled and mostly kept in isolation in the home, which had no functioning toilets.

Matthew, according to My Suburban Life, died of bronchopneumonia. He was mentally handicapped and unable to care for himself.

But Barbara does not see what all the fuss is about.

"I came from Minneapolis, Minnesota many years ago, from a hog farm,” Barbara told CBS 2. "I know what filth is. If we lived here all these years, how come suddenly its deadly? Shouldn't we have died long ago?"

Price was released from jail on Monday, Sept. 12, after her family posted a $10,000 bond -- ten percent of the $100,000 bail that was set last week, the Chicago Tribune reported. The state will seek a bail increase at an Oct. 7 court appearance.

All of Matthew's four siblings, aged 12 to 18, are currently under custody of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

The home where Price and her family lived, located on the 2800 block of Lombard Avenue, will be demolished after an investigation is completed, according to My Suburban Life.

Comments

[2manchew]

12:57 PM on 09/23/2011

Did she live with the hogs in the mud and slop? How did these people reproduce? Because somethings, like wallowing in mud, are a real turnoff. It might help if you play the song from Deliverance while courting.

[cmfrtblebbw]

06:29 AM on 09/23/2011

In all this time, nobody reported this? Nobody followed up on reports? The school department is required - by law - to do so, how bout the kids other relatives? tsk tsk tsk to the millionth degree.

[starflies8]

09:20 PM on 09/22/2011

Hoarding is a mental illness, but at some point, someone has to stand up for the children. I have 2 really big cats and 2 really small dogs. It takes work and effort EVERYDAY/off and on all day, to clean up behind animals (dogs are much worse) that stay inside your home. I can't imagine how bad it was in that house with 200 various animals (who obviously weren't being cared for).

[Kay Nicks]

07:28 PM on 09/22/2011

It's beyond me how anyone could stand to live in such deplorable conditions..that being said,
mental illness is a horrible thing to have to live with.
Just sad no family or friends intervened before it had gotten so out of hand.
An intervention may well have spared the boy his life. Very sad.

[LeaderofMen]

05:40 PM on 09/22/2011

As the TV program has made very very evident, hoarders suffer from mental disease. Never EVER listen and nod when discussing this issue with a hoarder. Instead, shut them up and put them on meds. They're as delusional as those who have an addiction to religion.

[kaki40]

08:12 PM on 09/22/2011

How did you just spin this story about animal abuse and a child dead into religion?? did I miss something?

[kaki40]

08:14 PM on 09/22/2011

And PS I see you are a former Marine..I do thank you for your service..

[Socialgal89]

02:31 PM on 09/22/2011

Send them back to Minnesota we have enough problems in Chicago we don't need to be wasting our time with some mentally disturbed people who don't have the sense that they are endangering their own children. If that's the way they want to live then fine, but do it in a place where they "know what filth is" because obviously we have higher standards here. This story is sad and disgraceful yes,but there are thousands of people like this and the fact of the matter is we can't change them because they are sick so send them back to where they came from and that state can use their taxes to house them in jail or to pay for their welfare because I am sure they are collecting some kind of government aid.

[fieryat41]

02:19 PM on 09/22/2011

That is disgusting. There is no way to justify such a mess, much less making the kids live in such horrible conditions.

[JuleS236]

10:38 AM on 09/22/2011

Ill or eveil, the entire adult family needs to be locked up and kept in cages like many of the animals they hoarded. No fiunctioning toilets in the house, animals surrounded by gfeces, 100 cats euthanized because they were too ill to be saved.... and the moron grandmother (likely with few teeth and an IQ of 25) who says, "I know what filth is. If we lived here all these years, how come suddenly its deadly? Shouldn't we have died long ago?" A snuffling pig, like the rest of the adults in the family.

What a piece of work. No child should have to suffer like this.

[twoto2]

09:39 AM on 09/22/2011

located on the 2800 block of Lombard Avenue, Hummm... for years...

So nobody else lived on that street had a clue? Or are we Americans so busy chasing our own problem tails as to not see?

[ChangeAgent007]

08:43 PM on 09/21/2011

I don't believe these are evil people, just very ill people. Just so sad and senseless.

[Sergeant]

07:26 PM on 09/21/2011

Great show. And amazing that there are so many people like this. Many are well educated.

[cmfrtblebbw]

06:31 AM on 09/23/2011

Crazy people can have degrees. I have a degree!

[J Osteen]

06:11 PM on 09/21/2011

Unbelievable that neighbors - especially in the heat of the Summer - would not have detected stench emanating from this house.

And the fact that the residents allegedly "home skooled" the kids - - well, that speaks VOLUMES about the silly tales about how THAT fantasy works.

[proud2b4family]

07:19 PM on 09/21/2011

Your comment speaks volumes about the way you shape your worldview...not through critical thinking or fact gathering, but through one story on the HuffPo. You can't possibly put all homeschoolers in the same category as this mentally disturbed family unless you let other people do your thinking for you.

Sounds like you need to get out in the world and visit some home school co-ops and web sites promoting home school as a viable alternative to public education.

[J Osteen]

09:28 AM on 09/22/2011

Yeah - right.

I can't believe you'd use a story about these depraved former pig farmers from Minnesota who kept kids - including one that was profoundly retarded - secluded for YEARS with no interaction with other kids their own age. THAT is what "home skooling" does - it turns kids into little carbon copies of their backward parents...they learn exactly what the parents decide is worth learning about life and values.

NO THANKS.

Then when it's time for college, find out little Jessica doesn't even know who Georgia O'Keefe is................and she can't read at higher than a third grade level.

[proud2b4family]

01:38 AM on 09/22/2011

The problem is not home school. The problem is the mental illness of these hoarders. You can't form a conclusion about all home schoolers based on this one article!

[KulQuips]

05:57 PM on 09/21/2011

Just crazy.

[Brian Christopher]

05:55 PM on 09/21/2011

Very, very sad. These cases seem to be less isolated lately and not just in Illinois. Indiana has children dying in homes under such conditions, yet child Protective Services proudly announced it was able to return $100 million dollars to the State because they were "keeping children in their homes". Some children died in those very homes.

[Froidinslip]

11:34 AM on 09/22/2011

Sadly this is what happens when governments become so obsessed with cutting all helpful services in order to balance budgets. Social services for Children and Adults should be one of the best funded programs but for many people, they are an afterthought.

[Kay Nicks]

07:34 PM on 09/22/2011

A very sad situation. Good post. f&f

[DrJimW]

05:44 PM on 09/21/2011

they're murderers. they killed him by forcing him to live in disease ridden squalor.