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Thirty-two Dallas County dogs are in SPCA of Texas custody after being rescued from squalid conditions in a southeast Dallas County home. Lancaster Police Department officers found the dogs living in "cruel confinement" Thursday during an unrelated visit to the property, according to the SPCA, and called in the animal rescue organization.
After getting a seizure warrant for the dogs, SPCA employees returned to the "urine-soaked, feces-filled house" to find dogs throughout the house with varying health issues including "flea infestation, hair loss, extremely long nails and skin sores and other injuries," according to SPCA veterinarians. Some of the 15 puppies found on the property appear to be suffering from life-threatening issues.
Rescuers found other dogs outside the house and in the garage. One dog was chained to a tree.
The SPCA of Texas took all of the dogs to the organization's Animal Rescue Center in Dallas where they are being treated by veterinary staff and cared for until a custody hearing for the dogs can take place next week.
Thursday's seizure was the fifth of 2017 for the SPCA of Texas. In January, the organization seized 49 sheep and goats from a Fannin County property and 71 roosters, hens and dogs in Hunt County. On Feb. 21, the SPCA rescued 421 animals including feeder mice and rats, snakes and 28 dogs from a property in Caldwell County. A March 1 seizure, also in Hunt County, saved 18 dogs, cats and pigs from an animal hoarder from whom the SPCA has seized animals three times.
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