Floors in Animal Hoarder House Were Covered Inches High in Feces: Humane Society

It's described as one of the worst cases of animal hoarding in San Diego County.

Investigators say the floor of an El Cajon home was completely covered in urine and inches of dog waste, and that the 78 dogs living inside were rarely let out by their owner and had no contact with the outside world.

"You couldn't even come outside because you would start gagging or dry heaving. It was awful," says next door neighbor Ramon Ramirez.

Ramirez moved into the neighborhood two and a half years ago. He says a slight smell has always surrounded the home, but eventually the stench worsened and became unbearable.

"It just kept getting worse and worse and worse," says Ramirez. "I would have to run to my car every day, because I would start feeling sick."

With so many dogs in such a small space, many are wondering why it took so long for neighbors to contact police.

Chief Steve Mackinnon of San Diego's Humane Society says that even though there were nearly 80 dogs living in the house, barking wasn't really a problem.

"They were in an enclosed environment," says Mackinnon. "They didn't have any outside stimulus, so they really weren't making the noise that would alert the neighbors."

Ramirez agreed, saying the dogs would only bark when their owner would go to work and when he would get back home.

"It seemed like there were five or six dogs in there," says Ramirez. "I can't believe there were like 80 of them in there."

Another reason neighbors were hesitant to call police is because they felt sorry for the homeowner because he was a nice person who kept to himself.

"He's a nice guy. He's easy to live with," says Ramirez. I think that's why people put up with it for such a long time. If he would have had a different type of personality, people would have probably called sooner."

The dogs were rescued Thursday morning by the San Diego Humane Society. They are healthy aside from a few minor skin rashes from being surrounded by ammonia for an extended period of time. They will be put up for adoption in roughly two weeks.

Meanwhile, the home has been deemed a health hazard by the city of El Cajon and will be demolished. McKinnon says that the entire home has been permeated by the smell of dog feces and is unsalvageable.

The owner of the home, an employed man in his 60s, was going through a tough time dealing with a death in his family and, while he realized that things had gotten out of control, didn’t know what to do, according to McKinnon.

Friends of the owner have offered him a place to stay in the meantime.

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