'As many as 100 dogs have died': 9-year-old saved from horror house with foul stench of ammonia
A 9-year-old child was removed from a house of horrors after an out-of-state animal rescue group raised concerns about a couple who had been fostering dogs.
lawandcrime.com
A 9-year-old child was removed Tuesday from a New Jersey house of horrors after an out-of-state animal rescue group raised concerns about a couple who had been fostering dogs.
According to the Evesham Township Police Department, the conditions at the Main Street corner home where Marlton residents 35-year-old Rebecca Halbach and 32-year-old Brandon Leconey were living with a young child and numerous animals — dead and alive — were “extremely poor” and shocking.
Police Chief Walt Miller said during a press conference that he’s never seen anything like this in all his years in law enforcement.
“Some of the dogs were still alive,” he said. “There was a large number of dogs that had since been deceased and were in various portions of decay.”
The home was filled with 14 living dogs and “in excess of 30 deceased dogs in the residence, throughout the living space of the home,” authorities said. There were also living cats and rabbits, though it’s unclear how many.
“One dog was in such poor health, that euthanization was required,” cops said, adding that investigators believe “as many as 100 dogs have died in this home, many of which are present in the home or are suspected to have been buried on the property.”
Local Fox affiliate WTFX reported that responding authorities overcome by the foul stench of ammonia in the home had to don hazmat suits.
Halbach and Leconey are now charged with second-degree animal cruelty and third-degree animal cruelty/neglect, and authorities signaled that more animal cruelty charges will be brought once investigators find out the exact number of animal deaths.
