Over the past week, more than 80 animals have been removed from a Brant County home by the Ontario SPCA.
OSPCA inspector Brandon James says the OSPCA was first tipped off to poor conditions in the home, located north of Paris, earlier this month.
“The deplorable conditions in that house, nobody should be living in that,” James tells CTV News.
When officials arrived at the home to remove the animals on July 17, James says they were expecting about 15 dogs – but ended up removing 63 dogs and two cats.
The OSPCA then learned of more animals being kept on the property, and returned Tuesday – expecting only five dogs to remain, but finding 19.
With Brantford’s OSPCA facility not able to handle such a large influx of animals at once, 33 were sent to a facility in Cambridge.
Tracy Laraway, an animal protection officer with the Cambridge & District Humane Society, was also involved in picking the animals up from the home.
“It was just horrendous; dogs everywhere,” she says.
“They’re so dependent on themselves, rather than interacting with people. When you reached down to grab one, they would scatter."
James says the animals may be ready for adoption by next week.
The owners of the dogs, Darlene Dougherty and her father Marshall, are co-operating with officials and have surrendered the animals to the OSPCA.
Both have been charged with causing animal distress and failing to comply with standards of care, with Darlene also facing a charge of failing to provide medication to the cats.
They declined a formal interview with CTV News.
Laraway says the Cambridge & District Humane Society is seeking donations of towels, food and toys for the 33 new dogs under its roof.
