Hoarding 13 dogs, 10 cats
Knoxville, TN (US)

Incident Date: Tuesday, Jul 1, 2008
County: Knox

Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Convicted

Defendant/Suspect: Renee Huntley

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

Neighbors knew there were a few pets living inside a West Knoxville home, but the number investigators pulled out of that home Thursday made their jaws drop.

Knoxville City Animal Control Officers said they found 13 dogs and 10 cats living in filth and feces in the home on West Side Drive. "The smell, it gets very strong sometimes," neighbor Earl Daniel said.

It was that smell and the fact that neighbors hadn't seen the homeowner for days that prompted Thursday's welfare check by Knoxville Police.

The door was open when they got there. They didn't find any people inside but did discover a bunch of pets.

"You can hear the dogs barking sometimes when you ride bicycles down there, but I had no idea there were that many animals in that house," neighbor Craig Boyd said.

Investigators went to the home around 11:30 am. That's when they found more than a dozen dogs and nearly as many cats.

It took 5 animal control officers and every truck they have to haul them all in. "There are still some cats inside that we've been unable to get possession of. Some of them are in the walls hiding, things like that. We'll keep watching them. Hopefully we'll be able to take those out as well," KPD Spokesperson Darrell DeBusk said.

There was so much filth and feces inside the home, Codes Enforcement had it condemned. There's no telling what four walls can hide.

"A few hundred feet from my house, that turn of events is almost amazing really," Boyd said. In all, owner Renee Huntley was cited for 26 counts of animal cruelty. Investigators say the animals now in custody appear in relatively good shape.

They're being checked out at Young Williams Animal Center.

Case Updates

References

• « TN State Animal Cruelty Map
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