27 dachshunds seized from North Fayette home with ‘deplorable’ conditions

PITTSBURGH — Just one day after being rescued, you can see the fear and uncertainty in the eyes of 26 dogs who were saved from a North Fayette Township Home.

“Conditions that are just deplorable. Layers of feces, these dogs were covered, very matted hair. Some of the nails were so overgrown that they’re walking on the sides of their paws,” said Michele Frennier with the Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh.

The long-haired Dachshunds were rescued by the Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh on Monday after reports about strong odors coming from a house on Azalea Drive in North Fayette Township.

“Neighbors have been raising complaints and concerns but nothing that could ever rise to the level that investigators could get in,” said Frennier.

That was until authorities say the man who lives at the home allowed humane officers inside.

“When the officers arrived, he was cooperative. He feels very overwhelmed by this situation,” Frennier added.

Inside the home, officers found 27 Dachshunds who were malnourished and living in 6 inches of dog waste. The conditions were so dire that one of the dogs was already dead when investigators got in.

“We hear dogs barking and so on and we knew there was a lot of dogs because of the noise, but we didn’t know that many and unfortunately we didn’t know that one of them had passed,” said Todd Lynn, who lives nearby.

Lynn walks his rescue dog, Juno, daily. He says no one knew how bad it actually was inside, but he’s glad the animals are now out.

HARP says a woman who lives here has yet to officially surrender the animals.

If the woman doesn’t surrender the dogs, appropriate charges will be filed to make sure she can’t get them back. If she does surrender the dogs, HARP says the dogs that don’t have to have their teeth or eyes removed could be available for adoption as early as a month.

Right now, all the dogs are at HARP’s shelter receiving care.

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