Officials remove 113 animals from property

By Bill Hankins

COOPER — Delta County Sheriff’s Department and the SPCA of Texas seized 101 dogs, seven donkeys, four Chinchillas and one Cockatiel on Monday from a property in Delta County in what the SPCA said is a case of cruelty to animals.

The 101 dogs were cruelly confined in various pens, trailers and a shed on the property, all of which the SPCA said are covered in feces and urine.

A custody hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 1 in the Delta County Courthouse, 200 W. Dallas St., Cooper.

Justice of the Peace Bud Skinner will preside.

SPCA said the dogs kept in the pens were forced to live in sewage, a mixture of mud, urine and feces. The trailers and shed are covered in feces and urine and both trailers are filled with furniture, trash and other debris.

The stench of ammonia in the shed was called “overpowering.”

“The sub-floors of the trailers were soft and spongy because they were so soaked with urine,” said Courtney Stevens, chief investigator for the SPCA of Texas. “Some dogs were running loose in rooms, others were confined in small closets.”..." More