Japanese health officials find 164 dogs crammed into tiny house

Dozens of dogs, the animal rights group say mostly malnourished and infected by parasites, are crammed inside a tiny house in Izumo, wetsern Japan October 19, 2020, in this handout image provided by an animal rights group Doubutukikin and obtained by Reuters on November 4, 2020. Doubutukikin/Handout via REUTERS

TOKYO — Japanese health officials have found 164 emaciated dogs crammed into a tiny house in one of the country’s worst cases of animal hoarding, an animal rights activist said on Wednesday.

The parasite-infested animals were found in a 30 square-meter house in the city of Izumo, in western Japan, in mid-October after neighbors had complained, said Kunihisa Sagami, the head of animal rights group Dobutsukikin.

The dogs lived crammed onto shelves and under tables and chairs.

“The entire floor was filled with dogs and all the floor space you could see was covered with feces,” said Sagami.

Public health officials first visited the house seven years ago after getting complaints from neighbors about the noise and bad smell but the owner refused to let officials investigate at that time.

The three people living in the house said they could not afford to spay and neuter the dogs, so they kept getting more of them.

Sagami said the family has agreed to give up the dogs and his group would look for foster homes for them after they got medical care.