BURTON, MI — A Genesee County woman is facing charges after officials found 13 dead dogs and another 44 dogs neglected inside her home over the weekend, according to police.
Police received a 911 call Saturday night at 8 p.m. from a caller who said there was a horrific smell coming from a home in the 1200 block of Lasalle Avenue in Burton, according to police.
The caller told police they believed the smell was a dead body, according to police.
When officers arrived at the home, they found 57 dogs in the home, 44 of which were alive and 13 of which were dead, according to police.
The small dogs, Yorkies or shih tzus, were in cages that were stacked three high throughout the home, including in bedrooms, in the basement, and in the hallways, according to police.
Those in the cages on top were defecating and urinating on the dogs below them, according to police.
Some dogs were found dead in the basement and in freezers in the home, according to police.
Officials will perform necropsies to determine the cause of their of deaths, but they believe those dogs were starved to death.
Some of the surviving dogs were diagnosed with Parvo, a contagious virus among dogs that can cause death if untreated.
“When you have dogs that are not getting cared for medically or starving, that’s torture,” Genesee County Sheriff Christopher Swanson said.
Officials said the home where the dogs were found is “a hoarding situation” with clothes and garbage scattered throughout the home.
Officials do not know how long the dogs were in cages for, but added “it was a significant amount of time.”
Officials believe 49-year-old Patricia Ann-Catherine Stone was breeding dogs at the home.
Stone was charged with cruelty to 25 or more animals (seven-year felony), cruelty to animals and allowing them to suffer unnecessarily (seven-year felony) and failure to dispose of a dead animal (misdemeanor).
Her 24-year-old son was also arrested in connection with the incident and is expected to be evaluated for his competency to see if he can be held criminally responsible, according to police.
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