CORDES LAKES, AZ — Authorities say a woman has been arrested for failing to care for more than four dozen animals at her home.
The Yavapai County Sheriff's Office says animal control officers found "cruel, deplorable, horrifying, shocking and very disheartening" conditions at the home of 50-year-old Stacy Hembree.
The sheriff's office says Hembree kept more than 50 animals, including dogs, cats, rabbits and guinea pigs in the common areas of her home. Some dogs were sharing kennels and all were overflowing with animal waste, YCSO said.
"None of the dogs had water and no food was present in any of the kennels/cages," the sheriff's office wrote in a news release. "The animals were eating food laced with feces and urine that had dropped on the floor. Additional cages/kennels were found in a back bedroom in the same conditions."
A total of 54 animals, 28 cats, 20 dogs, four guinea pigs and two rabbits, were removed from the home and taken to the local humane society. Two dead cats and a dead guinea pig were found during the investigation.
Hembree was arrested Tuesday while appearing at justice court for a previous animal cruelty case and has been charged with animal cruelty and animal cruelty involving serious injury, among other charges.
