Animal Cruelty: Man With 108 Dogs Banned From Owning Pets

A man who once owned 108 dogs in a Michigan home was reportedly banned from owning or possessing any animals. Donald Smith faced animal cruelty charges along with his wife Melissa Kay Copen by the Van Buren County circuit court.

Smith and his wife are now restricted from getting any kind of pets following charges of animal cruelty on June 29. The couple reportedly had 108 dogs, six cats and one horse in their 56,000 block home.

However, the deputies had to conduct an investigation and search their property following a complaint from Van Buren County Animal Control. To their surprise, Smith's house at 52nd Avenue in Lawrence Township, west of Paw Paw is filled with animal feces and was "horrible."

Van Buren County Sheriff's Office Lt. David Walker revealed that the officers had to wear respiratory masks as the animal's odor can be smelled even from far away. "Several hundred feet away from the home, the smell from the residence was just outrageous," Lt. Walker said in a report from WoodTV.

"I mean, you're talking the smell of animal feces, the smell of ammonia from animals urinating," the Van Buren County sheriff added. Lt. Walker also said that animal waste was spread over the floors and furniture inside the home.

"There was probably not an inch or two of the floor, the stairway, furniture that did not have some type of animal waste on it," he said. "There was a lack of food, a lack of water," Lt. Walker continued.

Apart from the animal smell, the deputies also discovered that some of the dogs are underweight and infected with mange and fleas. Some of the animals also had deformities and some injuries, reportedly. Additionally, all of the officers were bitten by fleas as revealed by Lt. Walker.

The situation in Smith's home caused the Van Buren County deputies to seize all the animals, including a comfort dog named Bambi, which Copen claimed to be a reliever to her anxiety. It took them eight hours to round up all the animals.

Copen, however, argued that she and her husband were running a rescue program which started with five dogs. They both got overwhelmed and thought that Van Buren County Animal Control could help them.

"They thought they were doing the right thing," Lt. Walker revealed. "I think that they were providing just the opposite, with the overcrowding of the dogs, and the diseases and flea problems and the lack of food," the sheriff concluded.

Smith and Copen's animals were brought to the Van Buren County Animal Control and 20 of which were already transported to rescue programs. The rest are now under evaluation and they plan to have them sent to rescue programs as well for adoption.

As for Smith and Copen, both pleaded guilty to one count of animal cruelty but the second count of animal cruelty for Copen was reportedly dismissed. Apart from the restriction of owning pets, Smith was sentenced to serve two days in jail with 40 hours of community service, WTHITV reported.

Smith will also be in 12 to 24 months probationary period which will depend if he will pay all fines and cost of his sentence. In addition, he is also required to undergo a mental health assessment. What can you say about Smith and his wife's behavior towards animals? Let us know what you think about animal cruelty by dropping a comment below.