A mother and father are facing possible charges of child endangering after police responding to a loose dog call on East Fifth Street Wednesday evening discovered their four children were living in unhealthy conditions in a filthy house.
According to a police report, the pair was issued summons to appear in court and the children were sent to stay with a neighbor until the conditions at the home could be improved. The family already has an open case with Montgomery County Children's Services because the four children — ages 2, 11, 14 and 17 — do not attend school.
Police went to the home in the 2200 block of East Fifth at about 9 p.m. because of calls from the neighborhood that two dogs were loose and allegedly terrorizing children and the mailman.
When police arrived at the house they noted a strong smell of trash outside and a lot of animal feces in the yard. The yard and porch were so cluttered they had to walk a thin path to the front door, according to the report.
The front door was broken, boarded up and swung open when officers touched it. Eventually they were able to make contact with both adults in the home to talk about the dogs and the living conditions there.
In the report officers noted that the rugs in the house were stained with dirt and feces and the entrance to the laundry room was blocked by a huge pile of dirty clothes so that no one could enter that room.
They noted roaches and bedbugs were found in the area of the 2-year-old's crib and exposed electrical wires were found in the dining room.
One of the dogs appeared to sleep in a cage in the 14-year-old's room and it smelled strongly of dog urine and feces.
The female resident claimed that the original call about the dogs was probably from a neighbor who they argued with. She said the dogs do not get out of the house. The dogs were inside when police arrived, according to the report.
