LONGVIEW (KYTX) -- A Longview woman loses custody of dozens of dogs seized from her home. Late this afternoon, Judge Larry Merriman ruled the dogs were cruelly confined and deprived of necessary care. CBS 19's Abby Broyles was in court today and joins us from outside the Longview Municipal Court building.
Longview animal control officers say Mary Gunn was neglecting Schnauzer dogs right inside her own home. According to this seizure warrant, officers seized more than 30 dogs from her Longview home earlier this month.
Gunn appeared in a Longview court Friday to learn the fate of her schnauzer dogs. The city claims Gunn was not providing necessary food, care and shelter for her 31 dogs. Animal control officers removed them from her home June 19th.
"There was severe odor conditions there, you could hardly breath in there, it was definitely overcrowded, in a very finite small room, which was definitely harmful to the animals," Environmental Health Supervisor Buck Farrar said.
The schnauzers are now at the Longview animal shelter.
The city says Gunn did not properly vaccinate the dogs, and one dog is receiving medical treatment.
Kelly Heitkamp is an animal welfare advocate in Longview. She calls the alleged abuse upsetting and nothing short of a puppy mill.
"Nothing when it come to puppy mills shocks me," Heitkamp says, "I think this is another example that puppy mills and hoarding facilities are anywhere, can exist in your own backyard, your next door neighbor. No one know what's going on in someone else's home."
Animal control officers said the dogs were living in stacked crates at Gunn's home with urine and feces on the floor.
Gunn denied the allegations Friday in court.
The city hasn't filed criminal charges against her yet. City ordinance allows six pets per household that means Gunn broke the law 5 times over with just the number of dogs she had. She has ten days to appeal Friday's ruling.
The city is still investigating to determine whether Gunn will face misdemeanor charges or if she could be charged with felony animal cruelty.
Gunn was also ordered to pay $3,100 to the Longview animal shelter. Those with the shelter tell us they've transported two dogs out diagnosed with the parvo virus, but they are not confirming whether the virus came from Gunn's dogs.
