Sumner Newscow report — According to a KWCH Channel 12 story, the Wellington Police Department found 65 animals at a house in the 600 block of S. Jefferson Street, Saturday evening.

Officers said the floors in the home were covered with inches of feces, and the Humane Society called the conditions inside unlivable, the report said.

Police found 22 rabbits, 12 dogs, nine cats, three guinea pigs, three ferrets, two rats, and four mice living in the home, as well as 10 chickens in the backyard.

Police and the Wellington Humane Society removed cage after cage covered in feces and matted fur from a home in 600 block of S. Jefferson Street Saturday night.

“I’ve never had this many in a building, in a house. It’s a classic case of hoarding,” said Phyllis Todd, vice president of the Wellington Humane Society.

A neighbor called police Friday night after he noticed the front door open for hours.

Benjamin Forrest, who lives next door, said he could see animals running in an out of the house after the front doors were left open.

“The cops showed up after we had a bunch of animals running around the yard and block. When the cops were gagging, I assumed it was pretty bad,” said Joseph Richards, who also lives on the block.

Neighbors say they knew the man and woman living in the home had a lot of animals, and when walking by, could sometimes smell feces or urine. But Richards says he still didn’t expect police to find 65 animals.

“I surprised at the number but wasn’t too surprised there was something like that going on in there,” he said.

Officers say all the dogs are Pomeranians. Police brought eight dogs to the pound Friday night, but allowed the owners to bring the rest of the dogs and the cats to a relative’s farm.

Police are also giving the owners until Sunday to bring the chickens to a safe area.

But that still leaves 34 small animals and eight dogs for the Humane Society to handle. Todd says one of the biggest challenges now is finding space for all the animals and checking them for health problems, like infections.

“It’s not always visible at first glance, so we’re going to check them over and treat them if they need any surgery or anything cleaned up. That’ll be first thing on the list,” Todd said. “If anyone’s looking for any of those pets, we have plenty to share and we’d love to find them good homes.”

Todd says she can’t comment yet on overall health of the animals, but said it does look like the animals were well-fed.

Wellington’s police chief, Tracy Heath, told Channel 12 he’s presenting the case to the Sumner County Attorney’s office and will decide if and what charges need to be filed.

“I’m concerned with the health issues associated with the house and specifically for the neighbors,” Heath said. He said all the waste from the animals create a potential for diseases to spread.

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