Minnesota officials this month went to a purported rescue facility to remove more than 250 animals living in crates caked with excrement — only to find many dogs and cats missing and a pile of ashes and animal bones.
Only 70 animals escaped alive.
A man and a woman who lived at the home in rural Hines, Minnesota, about 80 miles (145 kilometers) south of the Canadian border, were charged with 10 counts of animal torture Dec. 9. The woman on Monday requested a hearing on the legality of the animals’ removal.
“I’m hoping obviously for justice for those animals,” Beltrami Sheriff Jason Riggs said.
Sheriff’s deputies began investigating after receiving a report Oct. 21 about an extremely skinny loose dog and others kept in small cages covered in feces, according to the probable cause statement.
Deputies who visited the property that day gave the owners a week to clean and care for the animals. When deputies returned Oct. 29, they counted at least 250 cats, dogs and horses, not including free-roaming barn cats. Again, they gave the owners time to clean and care for the animals.