CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Four arrests were made in an animal-cruelty case Wednesday on Niagara Street.
Dozens of small-to-medium dogs were removed from the West Side house after a local landlord's representative said they went to the house in the 2800 block of Niagara Street, near Port Avenue and Baldwin Boulevard, in order to serve an eviction notice and found the animals.
The person did not want to be identified.
When they noticed a large number of animals inside and outside of the house, they called police. Police, Corpus Christi Animal Care Services and code enforcement all responded.
"There was about 40 dogs," the representative said. "There’s some in cages — a lot of little ones in the house — very very skinny, sickly, malnourished."
It was determined that the living conditions in which the 35 dogs and one cat were living was unsafe, and the animals were taken to Animal Care Services.
“Dogs lived in squalor conditions — living in close proximity to their feces — their urine — housed in small kennels that are completely inadequate for the size of the dogs," Animal Care Services Program Manager Joel Skidmore said.
Police arrested three unnamed men and a woman.
They currently are in the Nueces County Jail, according to a news release.
Animal Care Services, which said in a Facebook post that it already was over capacity, currently is looking to place the animals in its custody so that it can care for these dogs and the cat.
"If we could get some help from the community to come move some animals off our property so we can take in these animals that have been cruelly treated, it would be in critical need and critical help and we’d be very appreciative,” Skidmore said.
