An Ohio man, Stephen Gossmeyer, 42, was charged with animal cruelty after deputies, shockingly, discovered at least nine dogs inside his residence, with more suffering from malnutrition.
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According to an affidavit obtained by PEOPLE, Madison County deputies arrived at Gossmeyer's home on March 14. They had received multiple reports regarding animal neglect, with some suspecting that there were dead animals in his home.
Alongside the deputies, Gossmeyer's probation officer accompanied them. He was indicted on two charges of deception in 2022. When the probation officer asked Gossmeyer if he had any dead dogs inside, he answered, "I told you already, no," as per the affidavit.
However, that wasn't proven false, as per the document. Deputies quickly found one dog buried in rubble and then eight others. Allegedly, Gossmeyer knew the name of each of the nine dogs that were discovered dead in his house, which was in terrible living conditions.
Horrifying Scene
Madison County Sheriff John Swaney talked with WCMH and detailed what his deputies found in the house. He revealed that some of the dogs died due to starvation.
"I've been on a lot of animal calls throughout my career here at Madison County and by far, this was probably the worst location I've been at when it comes to the living conditions of these animals."
On top of that, some of the dogs showed signs that they had been dead for a while.
"Some of them had been, since they were petrified," Swaney added. "When you look at some of the animal cages that these animals were kept in, you can see that the cages were eaten and chewed on. That's not normally common to see in dogs that are hungry."
Seven other dogs were found alive but malnourished. Additionally, as per the affidavit, parrots, snakes, frogs, and spiders were found inside the house.
"I'm kind of heartbroken to see the conditions that some of these dogs were living in," Swaney added. "They would just leave them lay or put them in a bag and leave them blind."
Allegedly, Gossmeyer got hold of the dogs after claiming to be a trainer. Moreover, the affidavit alleges that Gossmeyer lied to his probation officer by claiming that he was working with the U.S. Border Patrol by training dogs. While a Border Patrol agent was in contact with Gossmeyer, the agent revealed that the service was for a personal dog and not an official contract of any sort.
Authorities reunited some of the dogs with their owners. Some of them were seized by the Animal Humane Society, as per PEOPLE. Finally, police arrested and charged Stephen Gossmeyer with animal cruelty and tampering with records.
