GUSTAVUS TOWNSHIP, Ohio — More than two dozen dogs, some of them trapped in crates, died Sunday morning in a house fire in Trumbull County, according to reports.
Jason Cooke, president of Healthy Hearts and Paws Project, tells WFMj Channel 21 that 27 dogs had been found dead. A post on social media from the organization said 24 dead dogs were found in one bedroom of the home and it’s believed a dozen more might be dead in the debris.
The fire was reported at 7:30 a.m. on Davis Peck Road in Gustavus Township, WKBN Channel 27 reports. There are no reports of how the fire started and no reports of residents being injured.
But Cooke said investigators at the scene discovered about 50 animals at the residence, including two horses that already were dead and five others that were malnourished, WFMJ reports. They also found chickens and turkeys.
Other dogs were found alive in another building but were in very poor condition, Cooke tells WKBN.
“I keep telling myself when I go to bed, it can’t possibly be worse tomorrow. And then you wake up and then something like this happens,” Cooke tells WKBN. “Can’t ever prepare yourself for what we saw. You know, obviously, the house was burned. We were told that there had been some dogs that had passed away in the house.”
Cooke said criminal charges are expected to be filed against the owners of the animals.
