Police remove 115 animals from Mass. home, department says

More than 100 animals — the majority being farm birds, as well as dogs, rabbits, ferrets, and other animals — were removed from a Plympton home Tuesday as part of an animal cruelty investigation, police said.

Plympton police enacted a search warrant at the property in conjunction with law enforcement from the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the department said. 

Officers recovered 115 animals — including chickens, turkeys, geese, quails, ducks, one guinea hen, two dogs, two cats, five rabbits, two ferrets, and five goats — a process that took four hours, police said. 

“We had probable cause to believe that animals on this property were being kept in violation of the law,” MSPCA said on Facebook. “When we got there, we saw that they were living in unsanitary conditions with inadequate access to food and water.”

Most of the animals were transported to MSPCA-Angell at Nevins Farm in Methuen, with the exception of the dogs and two rabbits brought to MSPCA-Angell Cape Cod Adoption Center in Centerville, The Boston Globe reported. 

“Because the animals were seized as part of the warrant, they’ll be held pending the outcome of the investigation. They aren’t available for adoption,” MSPCA-Angell Law Enforcement Director Chris Schindler told the Globe. 

The woman who owns the animals told WCVB they were not neglected. 

“They’re very well taken care of. They’re all very happy and healthy and clean, too,” she told the station. “I am in shock. I mean, in less than 24 hours after they were here, they came and took them with no orders to correct. Not even communicating with me in person.”

MSPCA said there is no further information available about the investigation.