YOUNGSTOWN Woman, dogs taken from house

Animal Charity workers will be taking dogs out of the home today.
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 65-year-old South Side woman was hospitalized after police found her frail and sick living in a home with about 18 dogs after she called a nearby business for help.
The woman, who lives in the 100 block of West Myrtle Avenue, was taken Tuesday to St. Elizabeth Health Center when police and health officials found her home uninhabitable, a police report shows.
Besides police, the Mahoning County humane officer and a city housing director were called to the residence.
Humane Officer Dave Nelson of Animal Charity said workers would be removing dogs from the home today and that some would have to be put down because of illness.
The scene: Officers found the woman wearing dirty clothes and slippers covered with dog feces. The dogs, from puppies to adults, were in various stages of health and improperly cared for. Some suffered from a viral disease that eats away at the stomach lining, the report says.
There was no dog food in the house and foot-high piles of animal excrement were on the dining room floor. The home smelled of urine and feces.
An upper-level toilet was blocked and leaking down stairs into a foyer. The water had caused damage to the first-floor ceiling. Investigators had to walk around a stream of the dirty toilet water to keep from getting doused, the report says. A filthy kitchen had little food.
The woman has a history of mental illness, the police report says.
Last year, 59 dogs were removed from the home by the county humane officer.
The woman had placed a call for help to an auto business in her neighborhood. Workers there contacted police.