Peoria home where 60 dogs were rescued had previous animal citations, police say

Police say they have removed over 60 dogs from a Peoria home, and also discovered three dead dogs at the residence. Authorities had been to the house numerous times in the past few years.

Peoria police and animal control officers had been to the home previously and issued several citations for animal-related crimes. Between 2022 and 2023, animal control officers removed 40 dogs.

Officer Kristopher Babros says the house was overrun with feces, and that the animals lacked adequate food and water.

He says neighbors had reported concerns about the home.

“During this ongoing investigation, we've received multiple calls for service pertaining to the treatment of animals, you know, barking dogs, loose dogs, the smell of dogs being inside the house, where thankfully a court order was granted," he said.

Babros says the dogs have been sent to kennels. No arrests have been made, but the investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with information about the case is advised to call the city of Peoria’s non-emergency number.

“We're currently looking into this as an animal cruelty case. As you know with that, there's a lot of evidence that has to be collected as far as veterinarian bills. We're going to be talking to neighbors, we're going to be going back and looking at all those calls for service to see how they can relate to this case," Babros said.