Woman With More Than 100 Animals ArrestedDec 16, 7:29 PM (ET)
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (AP) - A woman was arrested after authorities found more than 100 live dogs, cats, birds, goats and a duck in her small, 3-bedroom house.
Officials say they also found 13 dead dogs wrapped in towels in a freezer and refrigerator in Cynthia Walsh's kitchen on Wednesday.
Walsh, 56,was arrested for investigation of animal cruelty after sheriff's deputies and animal services officers went to her home based on an anonymous complaint. She was released on $6,010 bail.
Walsh could not be reached for comment at her home Thursday.
Animal Services manager Eric Anderson described the conditions in the house as "defying anything imaginable."
Deputies who entered the house wore hazardous-material suits and oxygen masks, said Det. Keith Scott, one of eight deputies there.
"Even through the mask, the smell was horrific," Scott said. "The carpet was totally black and worn down - it looked like a Brillo pad. It was bad."
Deputies spent 10 hours collecting the animals, which were taken to the county animal shelter.
Officials said they did not know where Walsh got the animals or how long she had been keeping them. None had been adopted from Animal Services in recent years, Anderson said.
The dogs did not appear to be malnourished but officials would have to examine them to determine their medical conditions, he said.
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