On Tuesday, Plympton police recovered more than 100 animals — most of them farm birds, including chickens, turkeys, and geese, along with dogs, cats, goats, and other animals — from a home, officials said.
Police executed a search warrant at the property on Lake Street as part of an investigation conducted with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, officials said.
“We had reason to believe that animals on this property were being kept in violation of Massachusetts Animal Cruelty Laws,” MSPCA-Angell law enforcement director Chris Schindler said in a statement. “When we got there, we saw that they were living in unsanitary conditions with inadequate access to food and water.”
Police recovered a total of 115 animals. Along with chickens, turkey, and geese, other farm birds seized include quails and one guinea hen. Two dogs, two cats, five rabbits, two ferrets, and five goats were also taken, the statement said.
The majority of the animals were brought to MSPCA-Angell at Nevins Farm in Methuen. The dogs and two of the rabbits were brought to the MSPCA-Angell Cape Cod Adoption Center in Centerville.
“Because the animals were seized as part of the warrant, they’ll be held pending the outcome of the investigation,” Schindler said in the statement. “They aren’t available for adoption.”
Police said in statements on social media that officers responded to a home on Lake Street after being contacted by the property owners regarding animals kept by the tenants. After the MSPCA was notified, a warrant to remove the animals from the property was granted on Tuesday morning.
The warrant took approximately four hours to execute, police said. Residents and drivers were asked to avoid the area.
Aerial photos obtained by NBC-10 appeared to show police and animal carriers at a home with kennels on the property.
Camilo Fonseca can be reached at camilo.fonseca@globe.com. Follow him on X @fonseca_esq and on Instagram @camilo_fonseca.reports.
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