Police in the Michigan city of Northern Shores seized 78 dogs on Monday (Jan. 30), per MLive. Many of the dogs are in poor health, and their dog parent kept them in “deplorable living conditions”. Police said that they arrested the dog parent for animal cruelty, while the residence has been declared unfit for occupancy.
A director at pet adoption agency Pound Buddies reported to police that a resident “had an excessive number of dogs in poor health and dreadful living conditions”, per a police statement.
“Deplorable Living Conditions”
“An anonymous complainant was able to obtain photos of the deplorable living conditions the dogs were subjected to,” the police said.
According to the police, many of the dogs were suffering from distemper. This caused a “significant health hazard” to animals in the community.
Norton Shores police, along with Pound Buddies, Harbor Humane Society, and Glenpark Animal Hospital, used a search warrant to enter the property and seize the pups. They took them to Pound Buddies for evaluation and temporary placement.
Meanwhile, the city’s building division took a look at the property and found it unfit for occupancy.
Animal Cruelty Charges
Harbor Humane took in 20 of the dogs, and executive director Jen Self-Aulgur described the property as “hell on earth”.
“Some of the animals were in crates so small, they could barely turn around,” she said, with the animals “just sitting in their own feces and urine”.
She went on to explain that the dogs displayed behaviors indicating they’d had little to no human interaction. Meanwhile, they were suffering from scarring, bite wounds, kennel cough, skin conditions, and urine scalding on their paws.
Dog parent Lisa Marie Cober is facing a charge of animal cruelty to 25 or more animals, per court records. The felony charge comes with up to seven years in prison. Her bond was set at $1,000.
