Parents Charged After Son Found Living In 'Deplorable' Home With Nearly 80 Animals

Two Pennsylvania parents have been charged after police and humane officers found their teen son living in an uninhabitable home with nearly 80 animals.

James and Kathleen Chaney were charged Friday with endangering the welfare of a child and several counts of animal cruelty after officers were called to a Westmoreland County home in August.

Their 14-year-old son was living in conditions police described as “deplorable,” according to a criminal complaint obtained by HuffPost. Animal rescue workers took 46 dogs, 23 cats, five guinea pigs, a dove, a ferret and a chinchilla from the home.

According to the complaint, Cassie Wilson, a volunteerhumane officer with the nonprofitrescue group All but Furgotten, observed several animals, some missing fur, outside the Chaneys’ home living in filth.

Wilson reported that as she got closer and could see into the home, she discovered that the interior was coated in urine, feces and fly traps that were full of dead flies. The Chaneys’ 14-year-old son, identified as “LC,” was also at the home.

Wilson told HuffPost that “everybody going in there was just in complete shock.”

A police officerand child service caseworker who were greeted by LC described the teen as “nervous,” having “disheveled” hair and clothes, and smelling of urine and feces.

Kathleen Chaney allegedly told police and humane officers that LC was her son and that he lived inside the home. She said she and her husband, James Chaney, cared for the animals on the property, according to the complaint.

Kathleen Chaney was at work when police called to say they were serving the search warrant, but she refused to come home, according to CBS News. Court documents indicate James Chaney lived in another town.

The boy was removed