SPCA Of Texas Seizes 89 Cruelly Treated Animals
McKINNEY (CBSDFW.COM) – The SPCA of Texas seized and took custody of 57 dogs, 26 cats, five puppies and one kitten -- all cruelly confined -- from a property in Royse City on Wednesday.
The animals were all living inside a feces-filled, urine-soaked residence on the property. Most of the dogs were kept in feces and urine-filled crates in the house, and one crate also contained dead mice. Several dogs were loose inside the house. Two dogs were found outside, one in a pen next to the residence and another kept in the backyard. One dog was found inside a car that was parked on the property.
The cats and kitten were kept in a separate room inside the house.
The SPCA measured the ammonia level in the residence to be 62 parts per million (ppm). As a point of reference, short term exposure to any ammonia level over 20 ppm or long term exposure to any level over 12 ppm can cause health problems in humans.
The dogs and cats appear to have varying health issues, including hair loss, flea infestation, and nose and eye discharge.
This wasn't the first time the SPCA seized animals off the property. They took 45 animals from the same property on October 15, 2010.
Unfortunately, there isn't anything in Texas state law that prevents people who have previously had animals seized civilly from them from starting over and acquiring more animals. The SPCA and the Hunt County Constable were working with the animal owner for more than a year to bring the animals' living conditions into compliance with Texas Health and Safety Code. The animal owner had worked to comply, and had surrendered twelve dogs to the SPCA in December of 2013. The SPCA has continued to regularly check on the animals' conditions during this entire time period. But the animals' conditions had recently worsened to the point that the SPCA decided that it was in the animals' best interest to remove them.
SPCA vehicles transported the animals to the Perry Animal Care Center in McKinney, where medical staff are examining them. They will stay there until a custody hearing is held. It will take place on Monday, March 10 at 10 a.m. at the Hunt County Justice of the Peace, Pct. 1 Courthouse in Greenville.
If the SPCA of Texas is awarded custody of the animals, they would be individually evaluated for potential adoption or placement on a case by case basis.
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The SPCA is a non-profit organization that operates two shelters and three spay/neuter clinics located in Dallas and McKinney. It has a team of five animal cruelty investigators to respond to thousands of calls in eight North Texas counties. It serves as an active resource center for an array of services that unites people and animals together to enrich each their lives. The SPCA isn't affiliated with any other entity and does not receive general operating funds from the City of Dallas, State of Texas, federal government or any other humane organization.
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