A man and a woman have been arrested in the Upper Peninsula after police discovered children and animals living in unsanitary conditions at a home, officials said.
Michigan State Police troopers with the Negaunee Post were called at about 8:10 p.m. on Tuesday to an Ishpeming Township home for a domestic violence incident.
Authorities said the suspect left the home before they arrived and returned to his home in the city of Ishpeming.
Troopers found the suspect at his home and subsequently executed a search warrant at the residence, police said.
What troopers found
During the search, the troopers discovered two young children and 17 animals living in unsafe and unsanitary conditions, according to officials. They said animal feces and urine were found throughout the home. Police also saw additional evidence that indicated the children and animals were not receiving proper care.
Investigators said they found 16 bloodhound dogs and a cat.
Authorities said they arrested the male suspect for aggravated domestic violence, domestic violence, second-degree child abuse, and animal abuse. They also arrested a woman who also lived at the home for second-degree child abuse and animal abuse, police said.
Officials placed the children with a relative while Child Protective Services conducts an investigation, they said.
Meanwhile, the animals were placed in a shelter to be evaluated and receive care.
Other neglect cases
The incident follows other recent cases of children found living in squalor or being neglected.
Earlier this month, an Oakland County judge sentenced a Pontiac mother accused of abandoning her three kids to live in squalor to two years of probation and ordered her to pay more than $29,000 in restitution for welfare fraud.
Last week, an Oakland County judge set the trial for a Pontiac father accused of child abuse to begin on Oct. 8, according to court records. He and his relatives were arrested after his emaciated 9-year-old son was brought to a hospital in a near-death condition.
In April, another Pontiac mother was sentenced to 129 months to 20 years in prison for child abuse after she left her children alone in an apartment with unsanitary conditions.
The case is also among the most recent involving multiple animals being found at a home and removed for alleged neglect.
Last week, a Lapeer County woman was charged with animal cruelty after more than 100 cats, alive and dead, were removed from her home in May.
Earlier this month, a Warren woman accused of neglecting two dozen animals at her home was ordered to stand trial on a cruelty charge.
Officials said in March that they recently removed more than 200 animals, many of them dead, from a St. Clair County home. The property owner voluntarily surrendered the animals, and the investigation is ongoing.
cramirez@detroitnews.com
@CharlesERamirez
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: State police arrest 2 in U.P. after kids, pets found living in squalor
Reporting by Charles E. Ramirez, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Charles E. Ramirez, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
