Animal cruelty investigators spent the afternoon working inside 103 Main St., a three-story house just outside the center of town.
Workers tied plastic bags to their feet to walk in the house, which animal cruelty officer Martha Parkhurst described as "totally saturated with urine and feces."
"The basement is just horrendous," said cruelty investigator Arthur Laurie, noting that's where many of the 27 dachshunds retrieved from the house were being kept. A Chihuahua also was taken from the house, along with several other animals.
Danya Dufour, 33, and Jackson Cruz, 29, were selling the dachshunds from the house, said Parkhurst, who works for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. They will both face 29 counts of animal cruelty and a variety of other charges.
Dufour has been arrested before for animal cruelty. In April 2005, Kingston, N.H., police said she was selling dachshunds over the Internet from her home there. In Kingston, police said Dufour had not given the dogs enough water and had let their pens fill with urine.
Police also recovered a ferret, an iguana and cats from the Groveland house.
The dogs, however, were fairly healthy.
"They're in pretty good condition," investigator Laurie said. Some of the dogs had "irritants and minor abrasions," he said.
Still, officers took all the dogs from the house, carrying them in crates to waiting vans. Parkhurst would not say where the dogs were being taken.
"The plan is not to return them," she said.
Neighbors, many of them dog owners, watched as officers carried the dogs from the house.
"It's heartbreaking. It's unacceptable no matter how you look at it," said Danelle Gatcombe, who lives on Dwinnels Street.
Gatcombe, who owns and shows German shorthaired pointers, said she was surprised to learn of the conditions inside 103 Main St.
"We didn't even know there were dogs in there," she said. "The house looks better now than it has since I've known it."
Groveland Health Officer Edward Gallagher said the house will be condemned tomorrow as "unfit for human habitation," specifically because of the amount of feces and urine inside.
"It's almost unbreathable in there," Gallagher said.
Police were first alerted to the problems at about 10:30 a.m. by an anonymous caller saying dogs were being mistreated there. Groveland Animal Control Officer Kim York went to investigate and confronted Dufour.
The MSPCA was called in soon after. Dufour at first refused to turn over any dogs, police Sgt. Jeffrey Gillen said. She eventually gave in and voluntarily gave up some.
"She was worried about a couple dogs that wouldn't eat or drink if she wasn't there," Gillen said.
Police secured warrants to take possession of the remaining dogs.
Neal Hamilton, vice president of the Dachshund Association of America, said it is not uncommon to see people trying to turn a quick profit on the dog.
"They're very well known and unfortunately, because of their popularity, unscrupulous people will get involved to make money," Hamilton said.
"Most of these puppy mill situations are in the Midwest," Hamilton said. "There are certainly some here on the East Coast as well." A well-bred dachshund can be worth as much as $1,000, but in a situation like the one in Groveland the dogs are not "quality," he said.
During the investigation, police also found marijuana and prescription drugs in the house, as well as hypodermic needles, Gillen said. Both were charged with possession of marijuana, possession of a class E drug and possession of drug paraphernalia. Dufour also faces a charge of possession of hypodermic needles.
Police additionally charged Cruz, who gave an address of 250 Salem St., Lawrence, with possession of a dangerous weapon, providing a false name and address to police and driving with a suspended license. Cruz had a double-edged knife, which is illegal in Massachusetts, Gillen said. He also was pulled over in Groveland in August, but said he forgot his license and gave police a fake name, Gillen said.
Cruz was held without bail on a warrant. Dufour was released without bail and picked up by a relative. Both are due Monday in Haverhill District Court.
box:
Taken from 103 Main St. yesterday
* 27 dachshunds
* 1 Chihuahua
* 1 iguana
* 1 ferret
* 2 cats
