TONOPAH, Ariz. - Search warrants were served at an alleged animal-hoarding scene by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Wednesday afternoon.
Officials said they recovered 103 animals at the home of Jessable Perez and Lorena Baquera Hernandez in Tonopah. MCSO says Perez and Hernandez were not home at the time they served the warrants and that there are still outstanding as of Thursday night.
MCSO took these animals from the home:
- 1 cat
- 7 baby chicken (3 had to be euthanized)
- 4 adult chickens
- 15 hens
- 31 roosters
- 6 dogs, 6 puppies
- 5 billy goats
- 6 female goats
- 1 baby goat
- 3 turkeys
- 2 geese
- 1 mini horse, whose front hoof was grown out so far it had trouble walking
- 1 male gelding horse
- 9 rabbits
- 5 bunnies
- 1 Chihuahua, but it ran away when they tried to catch it
All of the animals were examined and then transported to MCSO's M.A.S.H unit.
Sky 12 video showed MCSO entering cages covered with plywood, full of dozens of animals. Officials said they recovered dogs, turkeys, goose, horses, goats, chickens, roosters, rabbits and cats, and that some of the animals may not survive.
"There was no water, no food, a lot of animals look neglected," MCSO Deputy Joaquin Enriquez said.
Some neighbors said there hadn't been anybody at the house since Monday.
"It breaks my heart to see animals living like that," one neighbor said.