VALPARAISO, Ind., Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Scores of animals deprived of food and water and covered in their own feces were rescued from an Indiana home ravaged by fire.
Twenty-seven dogs were found alive Tuesday, some packed three to a crate, along with numerous cats, rabbits, snakes, a tarantula and other exotic pets at the home of Pat Scott of Valparaiso, Ind., the Hammond Times reported.
Police visited Scott's home Monday just 30 minutes before the fire broke out to investigate a neighbor's complaint that there was an excessive number of animals in the home and that it was covered in feces.
Volunteers from the rescue agency Mixed Up Mutts who arrived Tuesday to collect an animal Scott had been fostering discovered scores of abused animals and alerted the Porter County Animal Shelter, which is now seeking an order for emergency custody of the animals.
An untold number of animals died in the fire, the cause of which is unknown.
