CAMPBELL — Charges are pending against a local woman after law enforcement removed a child and several dogs from deplorable conditions in a home on Van Buren Avenue.

Campbell police officer Jim Conroy, who also serves as a humane officer for Mahoning County, said the investigation began when a 14-year-old girl at Campbell Memorial High School reported abuse and neglect at home.

“We got a complaint on Monday about a child living in an abusive, extreme neglect situation, and that started the whole thing,” he said. “Myself and Sgt. Bob Smith from the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office, we had some information from the girl and confirmed it through another source, and then tried to go to the home and check on the validity of the complaint.”

When they arrived at the house at 55 Van Buren Ave., Conroy said the girl’s mother refused to cooperate, which sent up “red flags.”

“Because anyone who cares about the welfare of their child, you’d think they would want to cooperate if the complaint was untrue,” he said.

While standing at the door, Conroy said he and other officers at the house could hear many dogs barking inside.

“We asked her how many dogs there were and she gave a low number that did not match what officers could hear inside,” he said.

Campbell’s city ordinance only permits four dogs in a home. The woman admitted she had more than four.

“We had information that the dogs also were in poor condition, so right there are two separate issues related to the condition of that home,” he said. “We felt we had enough for a search warrant, and we obtained one and went back Wednesday morning and found that all the information we had received turned out to be true.”

Conroy said officers found 22 dogs inside the house, all in poor health, and found that the home was unfit for animal or human.

“It was basically a living hell inside,” he said. “The house is uninhabitable for any life.”

Conroy said the dogs — mostly pit bull mixes, as well as some smaller breeds like Shih Tzus, Yorkies and schnauzers — were in an “extreme state of neglect.”

Conroy said the dogs were very skinny, had serious skin issues, including large open sores and external tumors, heavy-eye discharge and ear infections.

“Their ears were all compacted from dirt and mites,” he said.

Conroy said many of the dogs were kept in cages and crates barely big enough to allow them to stand up and turn around, and police observed little if any food or water. He said the walls and floor were so soaked with dog urine that the floorboards were soft and some officers at the home were overcome by the smell.

Conroy said garbage also was strewn across the entire house and there was a complete lack of light because all the windows were covered by cardboard or heavy blankets.

Conroy did not identify the woman because charges have not yet been filed, but said she has an extensive criminal record.

“The report has to be written, and the intent is that charges are going to be filed,” he said.

“We have to wait until the medical report comes back on the animals, which went to Animal Charity, and when that report comes back it will determine the level of the charges.”

He said the child abuse charges also remain under investigation, but the girl was removed from the home on Monday after the woman refused to cooperate.

“Charges will be filed in all aspects of the case,” he said. “We were not going to let the child go back into that home.”

Conroy said many factors contributed to the development of the conditions in the home, not all of which he could discuss right now, but the home’s location is a factor.

While Van Buren is not a dead-end street, the house is fairly isolated, with no house across from it or on either side for some distance.

“There’s no way neighbors would have heard anything,” Conroy said, “only if you came to the house and banged on the door.”

He said neglect and abuse cases like this are far more common than people might realize.

“This is not a small problem. It’s a very large societal problem and it creates a huge burden on the agencies that have to work with animals and with children,” he said.

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