BROWNSBURG, Ind. — A call of loose, malnourished dogs running around a neighborhood led to a police officer uncovering a home so “extremely foul” that he had to suit up in a biohazard suit just to search the home.
Court documents reveal that Brownsburg police were called to the 100 block of N. Grant Street on May 7 after a caller spotted three loose dogs running around in the roadway.
Officers ended up arriving at the scene and discovering five dogs in total running freely. The dogs had signs of mange, police said, and were malnourished and covered in feces.
The dogs had apparently escaped from a home on Grant Street where the garage’s screen door was noted to be damaged and partially opened.
An officer first attempted to make contact with the homeowners by entering through the damaged garage door. The officer reported that the garage’s interior was so “extremely foul” due to piles of dog feces and urine that officers retreated.
As an officer peered in through the front window into the home, he noted that there was so much animal feces covering the floor that he couldn’t even tell what type of flooring the living room had.
Officers called the amount of animal feces in the home “overwhelming.” An officer ended up donning a “full body biohazard suit” along with two layers of face coverings just to enter the home due to the choking, gagging stench.
As the officer entered the home, he stated, “I was overwhelmed with the strong odor of feces.”
Exploring the home, the officer noted brown paw prints leading to a broken window. The officer theorized the paw prints were made from walking through the large accumulation of feces, not mud.
Also noted living within the home were “hundreds of flying bugs.” The officer said the feces extended beyond just the floor, being found on countertops and on top of furniture. Trash was also scattered across the house along with cushions stained with urine.
Not once in the officer’s search of the home did he find water or food for the five dogs living inside the home.
As the officer made his way through the home encased in biohazard gear, he entered a bedroom that showed signs of occupants. Blankets and clothes were neatly folded and multiple firearms were stored in the room.
The officer then moved into another room in the house which he theorized was a previous living area for the dogs. In this room, the feces was so bad it was even “splattered on the walls,” the officer wrote.
“It should be noted that I felt lightheaded and nauseous after exiting the home, despite wearing protective wear and only being inside the home for a short period of time,” the officer wrote.
Five dogs ended up being taken into animal control’s custody, court documents detail.
Police learned the home was reportedly the residence of a couple who were both at work at the time of the search of their home.
Police ended up speaking with the couple at the Brownsburg Police Department. The couple informed investigators that they had been living in the home since 2019.
According to the court documents, both the husband and the wife admitted to their house being in such poor condition that it could cause serious health problems for both themselves and their dogs.
The 31-year-old wife reportedly admitted to keeping the bedroom clean in order to maintain a safe environment for herself but said she left the dogs to freely roam the rest of the home. She blamed her “laziness” and “neglectfulness” for the home’s horrid state.
The wife reportedly told the officer that “she tried her best, but her best was not good enough.”
According to the court documents, neither the husband or wife regularly fed the dogs with the 35-year-old husband saying he would cut open a bag of dog food and leave it out for the dogs to fight over. He said he wasn’t sure if all the dogs would get food and said he only fed them one to two bags of dog food per week.
The wife told police she hadn’t seen the dogs eat food since May 5, two days before police arrived at the home.
Both also admitted to realizing the dogs were in poor health and kept in poor conditions. Both also mentioned wanting to get rid of the dogs but claimed a shelter wouldn’t take them do to a lack of room.
In the police’s summary of the investigation, an officer noted that the couple both admitted to irregular feeding times and an insufficient supply of food along with knowingly and intentionally forcing the dogs to live in an environment filthy with urine and feces while the couple “sought safety and comfort in their bedroom.”
“It is clear that each dog faced serious bodily injury or death every day they lived inside (the home on Grant Street),” the investigating officer concluded.
Both the husband and wife were charged with one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty. They were taken into custody on Wednesday after a warrant was issued for their arrest.
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