Peoria Police remove dozens of dogs from a home following court order
Peoria pet seizure: PD says it's not the 1st time
On Jan. 21, more than 60 dogs were rescued from a Peoria home that police described as having deplorable living conditions. Now, we are learning that there were previous incidents involving the home. FOX 10's Kenzie Beach reports.
PEORIA, Ariz. - After more than a hundred visits to a Peoria home, police in the West Valley city say investigators were able to rescue more than 60 dogs on Jan. 21.
The backstory:
The Peoria Police Department said a court order was served at the home near 89th Avenue and Union Hills Drive on Jan. 21. More than 60 dogs were rescued, and three were found dead.
Police said they've been to this home more than a hundred times in the past couple of years for issues regarding animal welfare and follow-ups to investigations.
"This all stems from prior animal-related cases we have investigated," police said. "The dogs will be safely transported to our City Animal Control kennels and closely monitored to ensure their well-being while determining whether any animal cruelty has taken place."
The Peoria Police Department is working with its Animal Control Unit, Peoria City Code Enforcement and the Arizona Humane Society on this case.
Dogs rescued from Peoria home after more than 100 visits from investigators
Peoria Police rescued more than 60 dogs from a home near 89th Avenue and Union Hills Drive on Wednesday after serving a court order related to previous animal-related investigations. FOX 10's Taylor Wirtz has the details.
"Several neighbors have called in several different complaints. We've had multiple animal control officers out here that have been dealing with this residence. For it to finally come to fruition for us to get that court order to grant access inside, and to be able to remove 40 to 50 dogs today, is a win because now we can put our focus on those dogs and make sure that they're going to be healthy," Peoria Police Officer Kristopher Babros said.
Dig deeper:
Authorities are now learning this was not the first time Peoria police rescued dogs from this residence. The number of animals hoarded at the site now totals about 100 over the last five years. More recently, the homeowner reportedly would not cooperate with police, requiring a court order for officers to finally remove the additional 60 dogs on Wednesday.
Police say the home was clean in 2024, but that changed over course of 2025. Following the calls from neighbors, Peoria Police had to build a case.
"She's been served several civil citations, and that's what stemmed from yesterday," Babros said. "All these civil citations ended up combining into a huge criminal case where we ended up getting a court order to grant us access to go inside the house. We've never seen what the inside of the house looked like before yesterday."
City code enforcement has since marked the home with red tags, declaring it unlivable.
"We're talking feces everywhere," Babros said. "There's holes through the wall where dogs are just going from one room to the other through the hole in the wall."
Local perspective:
Aline Youssef, a neighbor for 20 years, said the situation was evident to those living nearby.
"The smell was bad," Youssef said. "Every time we walk our dogs, we just have to close our noses like a dead body in there."
The sight of the rescue was emotional for neighbors who had watched the situation escalate.
"I was crying yesterday. I was shivering," Youssef said. "I saw babies. I saw puppies in the crate and I was crying. I told my daughter, 'Finally, these dogs are safe.'"
What we don't know:
No arrests have been made in this case, and the investigation continues.
What you can do:
If you need to report animal cruelty, contact the Arizona Humane Society.
Map of the area where the dogs were living