YAPHANK, N.Y. — More than 40 dogs, 15 cats, two horses, a pony and a goat were among the menagerie seized in a raid on a home in a rural section of eastern Long Island.
Suffolk County SPCA officials executed a search warrant Wednesday in Yaphank. Authorities reported squalid conditions. Chief Roy Gross says some officers wore haz-mat suits and oxygen masks while removing the animals.
Besides the house, animals were kept in a barn and two other structures on the property.
Neighbors said the homeowner operated the place as a shelter for ailing animals. Gross said he had not confirmed that. He said the conditions were among the worst he has seen.
There were no immediate charges. An attorney for the homeowner did not immediately return a call for comment.