Medical emergency reveals 'biohazard,' animal neglect

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - A call for help recently led to a call for Animal Care and Control.

When paramedics responded to a medical emergency at 5207 E. 21st St., they found dozens of dogs and feces all around.

Officers said there were 50 dogs inside the home and called the conditions a biohazard.

Wednesday, officers returned to the home to remove the remaining dogs.

The homeowner could face fines and could lose the animals permanently.

Animal Care and Control officers said it was the second time in about a week they've found dogs being hoarded in a house. Just blocks away, they took about 30 dogs from a house on North Leland Avenue.

Wednesday, that dog owner, Duane Payne, was summoned to court. Payne said she did nothing wrong.

“I was a little behind in cleaning that day. They came so early in the morning I was still in my jammies,” Payne told a judge Wednesday morning. ““That was my cleaning day to get it spotless.”

But pictures taken by investigators tell a different story. Dog waste is splattered on the walls and floors of her home.

An animal control officer testifying Wednesday morning said “the conditions inside were not (good) for animals or people at the time. (There was) a very strong odor of urine and feces.”

Payne is facing fines of nearly $3,000 for failing to prove her dogs had received rabies vaccines.
And that’s in addition to the $6,000 fee to house her animals here at Animal Care and Control.

Payne has until Monday to come up with the money to house the animals, or she will lose them. And even if she comes up with the money, there's no guarantee she'll get her animals back. That will be decided at her trial which is scheduled for March 7.