More Than 70 Dogs Seized From Michigan Home

COTTRELLVILLE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WWJ/AP) - At least 70 dogs have been removed from a house in Michigan's St. Clair County, where they were found in unsanitary conditions.

The sheriff's office says it responded to complaints about odor and barking Tuesday at a home in Cottrellville Township, 50 miles northeast of Detroit.

Deputies found more than 70 dogs inside, including Norwegian buhunds and Norrbottenspets. They were in good condition but covered in feces and urine.

The sheriff's office says some of the dogs were seized Tuesday, but an animal control officer who returned Wednesday to take the remaining animals was refused entry. Authorities obtained a search warrant and seized the remaining dogs Wednesday afternoon.

St. Clair County Sheriff Tim Donnellon says while the animals were not malnourished -- the condition of the home was like nothing he has ever seen.

"Inhumane conditions," said Donnellon, "they were running free on the first floor of the home - so they weren't crated, they basically had the whole run of the first level of a small house, where the husband and wife lived upstairs in a bedroom. Now, they were not without food or water but they were covered in feces and urine --- they were unsanitary."

Most of the dogs were taken to the county animal control office and the local Humane Society. The Norwegian Buhund Club of America arranged temporary housing for others.

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