From the outside, the house in Palm City looked like any other: a neat yard, well-painted fences, nothing to attract the neighbors’ attention.
Inside, the agents had to put on special suits in order to breathe. Paige O’Donnell, 62, had sworn throughout the investigation that she had no more than five dogs on her property. When the Martin County sheriff executed the search warrant on August 10, they found 36 border collies living among feces, urine, and debris, their black-and-white coats completely stained black by grime that had accumulated over months.
O’Donnell now faces 72 charges: 36 for animal cruelty and 36 for failing to provide them with exercise or adequate air. The dogs are in the care of the Humane Society of the Treasure Coast, which is asking for wet food, donations, and temporary homes as it tries to give them something they never had: a clean life.