Woman, 6 dogs found living in squalor at Framingham motel

MASSACHUSETTS -- A Framingham motel may lose its license after it was discovered that a woman and her six dogs had been living in one of its rooms in filthy conditions for years.

Michael Sahlit of Crime Scene Cleaners has cleaned out many disturbing places, but he said you never get used to the sadness of finding numerous dog crates, years of trash and indescribable squalor.

"A lot of waste, a lot of dog waste. Food, you know, just stuff that never got thrown away. Stacked on top, on top, on top, day after day," Sahlit said.

Framingham's Board of Health said police and firefighters arrived at the Red Roof Inn on Friday after a 66-year-old, very ill Kim LeMaire requested medical help in room 252.

During her three-year stay, where as many as eight to 10 dogs were housed at a time, she apparently threw out nothing, officials said. Six Maltese dogs were found in the room with LeMaire.

 

The board's report said, "the room is unfit for human habitation ... Room is condemned ... Dog feces in plain sight ... Conditions deemed to endanger said the board's report."

The report said LeMaire was paying $45 a night to stay at the motel. Local officials say poor management at the Red Roof Inn and at the Motel 66 on the other side of Framingham often brings police to the properties.

 

"Drugs, prostitution -- things of that nature," said Framingham Board of Selectman Chairman Dennis Giombett. "At the end of the day, we give them an inn keeper's license annually. We want improvements at both of those motels. And having a long-term, three-year tenant with the conditions is really not what an inn keeper's license really dictates."
 

Giombetti said Red Roof Inn management has been asked to appear before the board in September. Its license is up for renewal in December.

A spokeswoman for the Red Roof Inn would not say if there had been previous complaints about LeMaire nor would she say if management was aware of the large number of dogs living there.

(WCVB - Jul 29, 2013)