In another disturbing case of hoarding, animals are once again victims.
Denise Alvey Dube, a former Family Services Specialist in the Nevada State Welfare Division, is accused of abandoning 25 Italian greyhounds in a home that got so bad, it's been condemned.
The dogs ranged in age from puppies to 12 years old.
Some were so traumatized that when they got to the Animal Foundation, police records show they were shaking in fear.
They had scars and hair loss, missing teeth, eye and ear diseases and more. One puppy had an open umbilical hernia, and an older female dog had multiple mammary masses.
Dube was arrested this week and charged with 25 felony counts of animal cruelty.
The case dates back to last spring when Las Vegas Metropolitan Police detectives discovered the dogs in a home near Craig and Rainbow.
A neighbor Contact 13 spoke to says investigators brought out at least one dead dog in a black, plastic trash bag.
The Declaration of Warrant we obtained says Dube told police that she and her (now-deceased) husband were unable to clean the place up due to health reasons and had to move out due to the filth and having too many dogs--leaving all the animals behind in what became, literally, a dog house.
The home has now been declared a dangerous structure that's unsafe to occupy.
It was described in police records by Dube herself as "Really, really, really disgusting."
She told detectives the dogs had been living and breeding alone in the home for about a year and a half.
Police documented deplorable conditions - a "urine and feces infested home with no access to go outside."
When police and Animal Control found the dogs, the home had running water but hadn't had electricity for two to four weeks.
Dube told police she would come over to feed the dogs but didn't try to get help "Due to being embarrassed."
She told police she started with around four dogs but claims the hoard grew as friends dropped off their dogs and never returned for them.
Then she said the dogs began to breed and have puppies.
We were unable to reach Dube for comment.
