The operator of an Ohio animal rescue organization faced multiple felony charges Sunday after authorities said they discovered 30 dead dogs at two of its locations.
The Butler County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Friday that searches of two locations linked to the nonprofit Helping Hands for Furry Paws also found 90 live dogs being kept in inhumane conditions.
The suspect Rhonda Murphy is described as the owner and operator of the organization. She faces “dozens of charges of neglect and cruelty to companion animals, both felonies and misdemeanors,” the office said.
It was not clear if she was arrested, booked or formally charged. Court records found no information on the matter, and Murphy was not listed as an inmate.
It was not clear if Murphy had legal representation. The public defender for the area did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The sheriff’s office said its dog keepers and humane officials found the dead dogs at a rescue location that was one of two registered addresses in Madison Township.
Helping Hands for Furry Paws appears on websites that offer information about nonprofit groups like Middleton, a city adjacent to Madison Township that occupies part of Butler County.
The dead animals were discovered in refrigerators and freezers, some not working, in various states of decomposition, the sheriff’s office said in its statement.
The reasons behind the search, and whether it was conducted with a judge’s permission, were not disclosed in the sheriff’s statement and a contact for the office’s dog guards did not immediately respond to a question.
According to the sheriff’s office, dogs were also found alive at the scene but in need of fresh air, food and water.
“A garage housed more than 25 dogs in cages with no ventilation or air conditioning, with interior temperatures of 89 degrees,” he said.
Their cages contained fecal matter and urine, and they lacked food and water, the sheriff’s office alleged. “In one of the cages there was a mother and eight newborn pups.”
Another location, described by the sheriff’s office as “the main house,” contained 11 dogs. The photos show hoarding conditions, though it was unclear which locations are shown.
Sheriff’s officials described the smell there as “horrendous” in the statement, which said deputies had to take breaks to get outside for fresh air.
The Animal Friends Humane Society took over the seized dogs, an act that nearly doubled its animal population, Cincinnati’s NBC affiliate WLWT reported.
This article was originally published in English by Dennis Romero for our sister network NBCNews.com. For more from NBC News enter here.
