Japanese officials have found 164 emaciated dogs stuck in a small house, said Kunihisa Sagami, the head of animal rights group Doubutukikin on Wednesday.
It’s one of the worst cases of animal hoarding in the country. The three people living in the house said they could not afford to spay and neuter the dogs, so they kept getting more of them.
The animals were found in a 30 square-meter (323 sq foot) house in the city of Izumo, in western Japan, after neighbors had complained, said Sagami. The animals were very skinny and full of parasites.
The dogs lived crammed onto shelves and under tables and chairs. “The entire floor was filled with dogs, and all the floor space you could see was covered with feces,” said Sagami.
Public health officials first visited the house seven years ago, after getting complaints from neighbors about the noise and bad smell, but the owner refused to let officials investigate at that time.
Sagami said the family has agreed to give up the dogs. His group would look for foster homes for them after they got medical care. “We will be spaying and neutering the dogs, vaccinating them, and getting rid of the parasites.”
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