Authorities find 13 dogs dead, 44 alive in Genesee County home

GENESEE COUNTY, Mich. – 57 dogs were removed from a Genesee County home on Tuesday—13 of those were found dead.

A public transportation driver and passengers reported to police on Oct. 12 that the home smelled so horrific that they believed there was a body in the house, and the smell carried to the homeowners.

When police checked out the home in the 1200 block of Lesalle Avenue in Burton, they found 57 dogs. Most of the dogs were found in kennels stacked by threes throughout the home. Police said the dogs were found in a hoarding situation.

The Genesee County Sheriff’s Office and the county animal control responded to the home to help remove the dogs from the home. Many of the dogs are infected with parvovirus. It took about five hours to retrieve all of the dogs.

Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson said the dogs that died were found in various areas of the house, including a freezer and the basement floor.

Authorities said the homeowners were breeding the Shih Tzu or yorkie type dogs.

Patricia Ann-Catherine Stone, 94, was charged with animal cruelty to 25 animals or more, animal cruelty to allow animals to suffer unnecessarily and failure to dispose of dead animals.

“If you are overwhelmed—whether it’s an animal, somebody mentally ill, the elderly, something that is taxing your ability—there are resources,” said Swanson.

The Genesee County Animal Control, who will be taking in the 44 dogs, received numerous donations to help care for them.