Pontiac woman charged after 29 dogs and 8 cats found living in her house

FOX 2 (WJBK) – Investigators from the Oakland County Animal Shelter faced a chaotic scene on Friday when they found 29 dogs and eight cats in a single Pontiac home.

“It was dirty. It was filthy,” said Bob Gett, the shelter manager.

The resident, a 47-year-old woman named Karmen Schooly, operates Tri-County Dog Rescue. She had been posting about her adoptable pets on their Facebook page just days earlier.

However, investigators revealed the home as a hoarding situation.

“They all have lots of fleas; they stink,” Gett noted.

The 37 animals were seized and taken to the Oakland County Animal Shelter, terrified and in need of care.

Gett expressed that, remarkably, the majority appeared to be in decent health, with the exception of a cat that would need to be euthanized.

“Most hoarding cases come from rescue groups that start with good intentions,” he explained. “They begin taking in dogs or cats, and continue to do so until it’s unmanageable.”

Schooly is currently facing three charges, including animal cruelty, with a case pending in Macomb County Circuit Court related to her rescue activities.

Gett believes that such cases often involve mental health issues.

In a telephone interview with FOX 2, Schooly claimed that the situation began as a code violation, not an animal cruelty investigation, and emphasized that there are always two sides to every story.

She also reported that the county confiscated her service dog on Friday and maintained that her intention was always to find homes for the dogs.

Now, finding homes for these animals has become the shelter’s long-term mission—a challenging goal for a facility already overwhelmed with adoptable pets.

“In the end, we have too many pets,” said Gett. “Too many animals and not enough adopters.”

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