Couple Charged with Child Endangerment, Animal Cruelty After Police Find Teen Boy and 77 Animals Living in Filth

Police have filed charges against a Pennsylvania couple accused of child endangerment and animal cruelty.

On Friday, James and Kathleen Chaney were charged after a human rights worker found 77 animals and a 14-year-old boy living in dangerous conditions at the couple’s home in Westmoreland County, Penn., according to CBS Pittsburgh. On August 14, officers noticed the child after seizing animals on the property.

“The specific conditions in the residence were the worst I have experienced in my 15 years as a law enforcement officer and more than 20 years as a first responder,” said Sgt. Robert Broome wrote in court documents obtained by him Penn-Trafford Star. “Clearly these conditions have been in the residence for a long time.”

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Officials noted that the concern began with the smell of rotting garbage. Upon further inspection, they found feces on the floors and furniture inside the house, which also had no running water.

“The smell of ammonia was so bad it actually burned the inside of my nasal cavity and eyes,” the officer wrote in the documents, explaining that he had to take breaks from being in the house during the search, reports CBS Pittsburgh.

Cassie Wilson, a volunteer humane officer with the nonprofit rescue group All but Furgotten, saw the scene firsthand via HuffPost. She told the outlet that everyone was in “shock” and that there was no urine, feces, mold or animals in any corner of the home.

“Once the house was cleared, we went outside and found more animals,” Wilson said.

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According to Penn-Trafford Star, among the 77 rescued animals were 46 dogs, 23 cats, five guinea pigs, a dove, a chinchilla and a ferret. All the dogs and cats had fleas and worms. A dead dog, a bird, a snake and four chickens were also found on the property.

Half of the dogs had no access to food or water, the paper reported.

The boy is the son of the Chaneys, and a Children and Youth Services official claimed the house was unlivable, CBS Pittsburgh reported.

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