The case remains under investigation, with the township office determining possible code violations, the county health department investigating, and the prosecutor's office determining possible criminal charges.
Twenty-two dogs (mostly Norwegian Buhund, Norrbottenspets and Norwegian Spets mix) were removed from the home by animal control on Tuesday.
The homeowners - Lynn Higgins and Michael Higgins - on Tuesday turned over 23 dogs to a Colo.-based Norwegian Buhund rescue, which arranged temporary housing for the animals throughout Michigan. Another nine dogs were turned over by the homeowners to the St. Clair County Humane Society.
On Wednesday, deputies and an animal control officer returned to remove the remaining dogs. The residents refused to allow entry and a search warrant was issued. A total of 38 dogs and three cats were removed.
“Inhumane conditions,” said St. Clair County Sheriff Tim Donnellon, “they were running free on the first floor of the home – so they weren’t crated, they basically had the whole run of the first level of a small house, where the husband and wife lived upstairs in a bedroom. Now, they were not without food or water but they were covered in feces and urine — they were unsanitary.”
The animals were in overall good physical condition, however they were covered in feces and urine, according to the sheriff department. The animals all had free run of the house - [but were obviously mostly kept locked inside the home, which then filled with feces, urine and dangerous levels of ammonia]. It's said that the Higgins were breeding dogs, selling puppies, showing dogs and also supposedly involved in rescuing dogs.
The sheriff's office had said in a Facebook post: 'According to the Animal Control Office, the pair [of homeowners] moved [to Michigan] from Colorado in hopes of breeding and selling the dogs.'
The animals will be evaluated for adoption or rescue.
(Freep - June 17, 2016)
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