‘Horrible odor’ led to discovery of 111 dogs, cats at Keller home

A 56-year-old woman faces an animal cruelty charge after 111 dogs and cats were found at her Keller home last week.

Deborah K. Thompson was arrested on the Class A misdemeanor charge Thursday.

The animals — 84 cats and 27 dogs who were found emaciated and weak — were awarded in a custody hearing Thursday to the Humane Society of North Texas, which will handle their adoptions, police said.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, a neighbor had complained to police on July 24 about a “horrible odor” coming from Thompson’s house. The smell was so bad that the neighbor couldn’t leave her house and “could hardly breathe” when she went outside, police said.

When officers arrived, they found about 15 kittens and puppies inside a minivan parked in Thompson’s driveway. The animals were caged without food or water and they were “standing/laying in urine and feces” inside the van, the affidavit said.

Police then heard several cats whining from inside the garage, but Thompson would not let them look inside.

After returning with a search warrant, the officers found several cats “that appeared to be very disoriented” in the backyard and “a large number of cats” inside the garage, where the temperature was about 100 degrees and metal animal crates were stacked “from floor to ceiling and wall to wall,” according to the affidavit.

Several of the cats in the backyard tried to run from the officers “but were too weak and sickly to jump the fence and escape,” the affidavit said.

Inside the home, “the smell of animal urine and feces was unbearable and scattered on the floor and walls,” according to the affidavit. The officers found an emaciated female dog and several puppies in a bathtub, where urine and feces were splattered on the walls, the affidavit said.

Thompson was being held at the Keller jail Thursday evening with her bail amount set at $20,000.

This story was originally published August 3, 2017 at 5:38 PM with the headline "‘Horrible odor’ led to discovery of 111 dogs, cats at Keller home."