Covering Louisiana
43 animals seized from Baker home
Posted: Jun 12, 2012 10:55 AM by AP
BAKER, La. (AP) - Authorities say more than 40 animals were removed from a Baker home after they deemed the home uninhabitable.
Hilton Cole, director of the East Baton Rouge Parish Animal Control and Rescue Center, told The Advocate the floors of the home were covered in dog and cat feces and the air inside the two-story home reeks of animal urine.
"The condition of the home is abhorrent," Cole said. "Nothing should be living there."
An East Baton Rouge Parish deputy called the Animal Control and Rescue Center about 3:30 p.m. Sunday after he noticed the conditions while investigating a complaint about a dog that had escaped from the house, Cole said.
Wearing a respirator similar to what firefighters don before going into a burning building, Cole said one of his investigators went inside the house and found 17 dogs, 25 cats and a bird.
Most of the animals were roaming around the home, he said.
Others were locked in cages.
Although the animals appeared to be well fed, Cole said some had noticeable skin issues and many could have respiratory problems.
A veterinarian with the Baton Rouge Companion Animal Alliance, where the cats, dogs and bird are being kept, is scheduled to examine the animals, he said.
Meanwhile, Cole said authorities are trying to locate the owner of the home, whom he declined to identify but said his office has dealt with previously.
The most recent interaction with the woman was two to three months ago, he said.
Someone contacted the Animal Control and Rescue Center about the condition of a dog the woman kept at her office, Cole said. The woman corrected the situation and was not cited.
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