4 Kids, 18 Animals Removed From Squalid Home In Queens
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Four children and more than a dozen pets were discovered living in squalor at a Queens apartment this past weekend, police said.
Police responded Sunday to the apartment in a building on 125th Street in Richmond Hill, Queens, after receiving a call of a domestic dispute.
Upon arriving, officers said they saw evidence of animal cruelty and danger to the four children between the ages of 7 and 11 in the home, according to a New York Post report.
The children were placed in temporary custody of the city's Administration for Children's Services.
City Animal Care and Control was also contacted by police to remove five dogs, 10 puppies, two boa constrictors and a lizard, the agency told 1010 WINS. Animal Care and Control will care for the animals while an investigation continues.
A neighbor said the man and woman who live in the apartment often fought, and had to be pulled apart when officers arrived, the newspaper reported.
A neighbor also claimed the man beat the dogs, and threatened to unleash the snakes on the children if they did not behave, the newspaper reported.
A 29-year-old man identified by the newspaper as Jasean Holmes was arrested for endangering the welfare of a child, and cruelty to animals. The children's mother was taken in for questioning.
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