Child, 139 animals removed from filthy North Idaho home

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office last week removed an 8-year-old child and 139 animals from an “unsanitary and unhealthy” Athol-area home. The Sheriff’s Office received a tip Jan. 14 that there was a child in unsafe conditions in a home that had no running water or electricity, said department spokesman Lt. Stu Miller. Deputies responded and discovered the child in a home in the 17000 block of East Pend Oreille Divide Road with no sewer or septic tank and filled with animal feces, rotting food and garbage, Miller said. The child was taken into protective custody, and animal control workers were called to investigate the condition of the animals on the property. They found a collection of dogs and cats in addition to 83 rabbits, 38 guinea pigs, nine goats, four miniature horses, one full-sized horse, three chickens and a goose. All the animals except the dogs and cats were in pens or cages with no water, and most were confined with large amounts of feces, Miller said. All the animals except the dogs and cats were seized and taken to the Kootenai County Fairgrounds for treatment. Charges of child abuse and animal abuse are pending against the residents of the home, Miller said.