12 dogs in a catastrophic state of health, the youngest of which were eight months old, were taken into the care of the Saint-Dié-des-Vosges animal protection society, who described the animals as skeletal and suffering from scabies.
The Républicain Lorrain initially reported on the upsetting story. On Saturday, firefighters arrived to assist an elderly man who had fallen on the floor in his barn and injured his back. They were met by a dozen aggressive and starving dogs, who initially prevented the fire fighters from intervening.
The emergency services enlisted the help of the local animal protection society (SPA) to calm the dogs down using food.
Once the animals had calmed, the officers on the scene proceeded to investigate the “house of horrors": terrified dogs who had been beaten, with a single bowl of biscuits to feed 12 dogs (approximately seven biscuits per dog). Even worse, as the dogs had not been neutered or spayed, the owner appeared to regularly dispose of puppy litters by drowning or beating them. Corpses were discovered in the freezer and in rubbish bins, disembowelled and full of excrement.
The owner is set to be punished by law. As for the dogs themselves, their nightmare has ended thanks to volunteers taking them into their care, providing food and medical care.
