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TAYLORSVILLE — A Salt Lake County constable serving papers at a Taylorsville house made an unexpected discovery recently.
"He called us and said, 'I need some help with a bunch of dogs,'" said West Valley Animal Services director David Moss.
By the time Animal Services was done collecting dogs from the house, a total of 56 were taken to the shelter.
On Aug. 30, the constable was serving papers near 5200 South and 3500 West when he found several kennels in the living room and kitchen of a house "that were just packed full of these little toy poodles," Moss said.
The dogs were all between 2 and 6 years old and in relatively healthy conditions, he said. Investigators believe the woman may have initially been breeding the poodles. But as time went on, it became more of a hoarding case, possibly because the dogs weren't selling and the woman liked them too much to get rid of them, according to Moss.
He described the woman who owned the dogs as being very cooperative with authorities.
"She realized, 'I was wrong and I want these to be put into good homes as soon as possible,'" he said. "It's just too many dogs for her to keep up on, really."
The dogs weren't in bad health, Moss said. But there were "so many dogs" in such a small area, that the feces quickly added up and the dogs were "not really in sanitary conditions," he said.
The woman could still be cited on charges of misdemeanor animal cruelty and having too many dogs, the director said.
The shelter has already spayed and neutered many of the dogs, which are now ready for new families.
"They can definitely bounce back and become really good house pets, and really lovable for someone," said Sharel Reffitt, adoption specialist at the shelter.
Shelter workers said poodles are considered smart dogs, hypoallergenic, and light shedders.
Contributing:Jed Boal
