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Weathersfield woman hospitalized, 24 dogs removed from home
24 Dogs
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Kerry Pettit of Animal Welfare League of Trumbull County tells of 24 dogs confiscated in McDonald.
By Ed Runyan
MCDONALD
A woman, 66, of Ohltown-McDonald Road in Weathersfield Township was taken to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital for evaluation, and her 24 dogs were removed to the Animal Welfare League of Trumbull County because of the extremely bad smell of dog urine, feces and clutter.
Weathersfield police went to the house at 6:06 p.m. Wednesday because of a barking-dog complaint, but the officer became alarmed when he smelled the “strong, heavy odor of animal feces and urine” while he was still on the front porch.
He went inside to determine whether the home was safe and found that there were dirty dishes and used food containers “covering every square inch of the kitchen and heaping in a mound about 2 feet tall.”
There were pathways to walk through the home because of the amount of garbage and clutter. The woman said she was sleeping on a mattress on the floor in the living room, near the front door and four animal crates.
Feces, dried and covered in mold, were near the mattress, and the floor was wet and bare particle-board.
The officer said the air “was so toxic with the smell of urine and feces that I could not breathe in the home and asked [the woman] if we could step back ouside.”
Kerry Pettit, executive director of the AWL, said: “No human or animal should have to live in that environment.”
After being brought to the AWL, a veterinarian started to evaluate each dog. The dogs are generally of good weight, “some are a little thin,” and some have a skin condition. They will be kept at the AWL until prosecutors determine what should happen to them, Pettit said.
“They are here for safekeeping. They have fresh air to breathe, a clean bed to sleep on and they are under medical care,” Pettit said.
This is the largest number of dogs that have been removed from a home in Trumbull County since Pettit became executive director in May 2013. Adding 24 dogs pushed the facility to nearly capacity for dogs, but it’s much better than when the AWL operated out of its former facility in Lordstown, Pettit said.
“It certainly made last night so much easier,” she said Thursday. “That’s exactly what this facility was built for.”