TENNESSEE -- Police said they found seven long-dead dogs and cats amid filth at a house at 6510 Fox Den Lane in Hixon, Tennessee.
Neighbors said Elizabeth Ehmling walked away from the house and her animals and belongings five years ago. But they said she keeps current on the property taxes, pays the utilities and sometimes stops by to cut the grass.
After police entered through an open door and made a brief inspection of the house, officers called the McKamey Center, then health authorities.
Police said the front portion of the house was littered with feces and other wastes inches deep.
The head of a large dog was in the floor in the middle of the kitchen.
In an upstairs bedroom, there was another small dog carcass.
Four cat carcasses were in the basement.
A kitten carcass was in a small crate upstairs.
Neighbors said the woman had seven dogs and 12 cats when she lived on Fox Den Lane.
McKamey officials were getting a search warrant to make a search of the entire house.
(Chattanoogan - May 23, 2012)
