Hundreds of animals seized from home

SPRING, TX (KTRK) -- Animal control officials had their hands full Wednesday, as they rescued nearly 300 animals from a single home in Spring. Many of the animals were malnourished and in bad health.

Officials with the SPCA took video at the property where they seized the animals. Investigators say the pictures show just how cramped many of the birds were.

Animal cruelty investigators say this was their fifth visit out to the Harris County property near Spring. They say they asked the owner four times previously to provide better living conditions for the animals.

"We wanted to make sure that we got those animals out of there," said SPCA spokesperson Heidi Brasher. "They were neglected in terms of some medical care."

An SPCA spokesperson says the birds were crammed into cages. In one case, she says they found more than a dozen birds in a single small cage. So investigators obtained a civil warrant to seize the animals.

Among the animals taken were 158 chickens, 121 roosters, 57 peacocks and 20 guinea fowl. Officials also seized 36 Yorkshire terriers, including three puppies.

"This is an operation where owners were breeding the animals. They were being used to sell, as a business," Brasher said.

Owners Diane and William Flabe don't deny that. They say this is their livelihood. But they insist that they've followed the SPCA's suggestions in improving living conditions for the animals here, and they don't understand why the SPCA would seize the animals now.

"Every pen, every pen had food and water," insisted owner William Falbe. "They weren't neglected. They weren't abandoned."

Authorities say no one has been arrested. There are no charges being filed as a result of this seizure.

The SPCA though is going to court within the next 10 days in an attempt to get permanent custody of the animals. They hope to find homes for all of the animals to be adopted.

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local, kevin quinn

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