SODDY-DAISY, TN (WTVC/CNN) - What started as an animal hoarding call ended in the arrest of two people accused of keeping children locked in rooms.
Police charged Staci and Dustin Tallent with aggravated child neglect. A photo sent by a Humane Educational Society officer shows a latch placed on one of the children’s bedroom doors. Police say at least one child had been locked in the filthy room.
Dustin Tallent’s father came to his son’s defense.
“There’s no criminal intent or negligence,” he said. “It’s a matter of very, very poor housekeeping.”
An aerial view of the home shows piles of garbage surrounding it. Inside, it was much worse. Pictures show feces on the walls and garbage covering nearly every inch of the house.
Police were first called to the home for a well-being check on the kids. When they arrived, they saw the trash, and then animals, so they quickly called Animal Control. Humane Educational Society officers said they found more than 20 animals. Only 10 were alive.
“These animals had been deceased and were bagged up and put into freezers," Officer Bob Citrullo said. Officers put the animal remains in trash bags and placed them in the back of their truck.
“Our hope is that they weren’t neglected so bad where they died and put them in the freezer,” Citrullo said of the dead animals. He said at the very minimum, the couple will also be charged with animal neglect.
The animals rescued from the home are now being examined at the Humane Educational Society, Officers said they hope they can get all of them into new homes as soon as possible.
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