Parents Charged After Son Found Living In 'Deplorable' Home With Nearly 80 Animals

Two Pennsylvania parents have been charged after police and humane officers found their teen son living in an uninhabitable home with nearly 80 animals.

James and Kathleen Chaney were charged Friday with endangering the welfare of a child and several counts of animal cruelty after officers were called to a Westmoreland County home in August.

Their 14-year-old son was living in conditions police described as “deplorable,” according to a criminal complaint obtained by HuffPost. Animal rescue workers took 46 dogs, 23 cats, five guinea pigs, a dove, a ferret and a chinchilla from the home.

According to the complaint, Cassie Wilson, a volunteer humane officer with the nonprofit rescue group All but Furgotten, observed several animals, some missing fur, outside the Chaneys’ home living in filth.

Wilson reported that as she got closer and could see into the home, she discovered that the interior was coated in urine, feces and fly traps that were full of dead flies. The Chaneys’ 14-year-old son, identified as “LC,” was also at the home.

Wilson told HuffPost that “everybody going in there was just in complete shock.”

A police officer and child service caseworker who were greeted by LC described the teen as “nervous,” having “disheveled” hair and clothes, and smelling of urine and feces.

Kathleen Chaney allegedly told police and humane officers that LC was her son and that he lived inside the home. She said she and her husband, James Chaney, cared for the animals on the property, according to the complaint.

Kathleen Chaney was at work when police called to say they were serving the search warrant, but she refused to come home, according to CBS News. Court documents indicate James Chaney lived in another town.

The boy was removed from the home, Wilson told HuffPost, and the animal rescue operation began, which took hours. There were more animals around “every corner,” she said, and “once the house was clear, we went outside and found more animals.”

In the complaint, police described each room of the home as being covered in cobwebs, mold and waste, adding that the smell of urine was so bad that one officer had to leave several times and return.

According to police, the home had no running water or food for the 14-year-old to “safely” eat.

Jenn Johnson, president of Ninth Life Rescue Center, who assisted in the rescue of the animals, said volunteers and officers found multiple dead animals inside the home.

Police noted in the criminal complaint that they found a “rotting carcass” of a long-dead dog.

“There were feces and urine covering the house,” Johnson told HuffPost. “Animals in cages locked in bedrooms. There was a deceased dog laying in the bathroom, chickens that were dead in a pen outside ― it was a rough day.”

The surviving dogs and cats were suffering from serious medical conditions, and many did not have access to water or food.

One of the dogs had a needle stuck in its belly and another dog was suffering from a ruptured uterus, according to the complaint.

The 14-year-old boy was taken into a temporary living situation immediately following the rescue, and the majority of the surviving animals have been medically treated and adopted, Johnson told HuffPost. However, she added that some animals are still undergoing surgeries and need “ongoing support.”

No attorney was listed for the two parents, and county inmate records did not show them as having been booked or taken into custody as of Wednesday. Penn Township police did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for information.

Both Johnson and Wilson told HuffPost that large-scale animal rescue cases have become more common in recent years, making it increasingly difficult for nonprofits like theirs to provide immediate medical care. The rescuers said their organizations are still financially recovering from the rescue months later.