146 dogs found dead in Ohio home of president of animal rescue Canine Lifeline, Inc.
Agents found nearly 150 dead dogs at an Ohio home owned by the operator of a nonprofit animal rescue organization.
The Portage Animal Protective League said the agency obtained a warrant to search the home in Mantua Township, Ohio, after getting a tip that an animal-cruelty charge was pending in another jurisdiction against the home's owner. The homeowner is a "founding operator" of Canine Lifeline Inc., according to the Portage Animal Protective League.
Many of the 146 dogs were found confined to their crates. They were "in varying stages of decay," the agency said. Necropsies, which are animal autopsies, will be performed to determine what caused the dogs' deaths.
Canine Lifeline posted on its Facebook page that it was "shocked, horrified and confused to learn of the devastating revelations regarding its president and co-founder." The post said the cofounder was hospitalized June 2 after she collapsed in her home. The post referenced two residences near Cleveland, Ohio.
"After first responders reported to her home in response to this medical emergency, an investigation was triggered that has uncovered overwhelming evidence of ongoing fatal animal neglect in both her current residence in Parma as well as her former home in Mantua," the group said in its Facebook post.
Canine Lifeline volunteers 'grieving this tragedy'
Volunteers were unaware of any medical conditions, and they were not aware of "the number of dogs she harbored, nor the condition of her home," the group said.
"Please know that the volunteers of Canine Lifeline are grieving this tragedy and are cooperating with the appropriate authorities," the post stated.
Surviving dogs from the Parma home were taken to an animal shelter in that community. There were no dogs found alive in the Mantua Township home.
According to Canine Lifeline's website, the nonprofit animal rescue organization was founded in 2009 to save adoptable dogs from being euthanized because of space or because they have treatable medical conditions. Most dogs are rescued from county animal shelters where they faced euthanasia.
"Our dogs come from dog pounds here in Ohio as well as from Kentucky," the website states. "Most of these pounds are in very rural areas and just do not have the means to care for all of the dogs they take in."
The Portage Animal Protective League asks anyone with information to contact humaneofficer@portageapl.org.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: 146 dead dogs found in home of animal rescue Canine Lifeline president
