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Case ID: 17524

Classification: Hoarding

Animal: dog (non pit-bull), cat

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18 dead, 17 living dogs found in feces-filled home
Lowell, IN (US)

Incident Date: Friday, Mar 4, 2011
County: Lake

Disposition: Alleged
Case Images: 1 files available

Alleged: Vicki Moon

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

Investigators had the gut-wrenching task of removing 32 dogs - both living and dead - from a canine house of horror.

After more than two hours wading through a-foot-and-a-half of animal feces they counted 17 living dogs at the four-bedroom home in Schneider, Indiana.

But to their horror they also discovered up to 15 dog carcasses wrapped in plastic in a freezer.

Lake County Sheriff's Department investigators also found blood stains on the bottom of the freezer suggesting the case could be even more grizzly than they first thought.

'There's blood, and we don't know why,' said Detective Michelle Weaver. 'If the animals had died of natural causes, why would there be blood there?'

Owner of the house, Vicki Moon, 62, faces 17 charges of animal neglect and tonight there is a warrant out for her arrest.

Detective Weaver said Moon had been co-operative and had given a statement, but had left the Sheriff's Office before the warrant was issued.

She also said Moon appeared sorry for her actions. Adult Protective Services has been made aware of the case.

Moon's neighbors told Northwest Indiana Times that she had been living in her car rather than her house for years.

Dawn Martin, who lives next door, said it pained her to watch Moon struggle through the winter and that she often left the car running to generate heat on cold nights.

'I am glad they are out here doing something about this,' Ms Martin said. 'But I feel bad for Vicki.'

The stench of the dogs was unbearable in the summer and prevented her from having barbecues outside, Ms Martin said.

The dogs' barking also kept her and her family awake.

Despite this investigators were only alerted to the case after one of Moon's dogs broke through the garden fence and attacked a neighbor's dog.

Detective Weaver said the scene that greeted officers was 'like a horror movie' and that they all had to wear protective suits and respirators.

'I don't think there are words,' she added while deputies said they could smell the stench more than 500 feet from the home.

The living dogs, most of whom had medical problems, fleas and were emaciated, are recovering at the Lake County Animal Adoption and Control Center.

An officer at the center said there was 'no excuse' for keeping dogs in such appalling conditions and that the situation had been 'years in the making'.

The dogs will be re-homed as soon as investigators are able to release them.

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