By Rey Llerena

    HONEA PATH, South Carolina (WYFF) -- Officials are sharing more details after, they say, an eight-month-old baby and more than 40 animals were found living in filth inside of an Upstate home.

Anderson County PAWS Director Dr. Kim Sanders said a total of 47 animals were found earlier this week at a home along South Shirley Avenue in Honea Path.

"Just the amount of feces and ammonia, it was very, very difficult to breathe," Sanders said. "When we were there, there were no bowls for water. It was just absolutely disgusting and just really depressing for my staff and myself. It's just hard to see animals in that kind of condition. It's rewarding to be able to take them out of there, but at the same time, they were definitely suffering."

Honea Path Police have charged Kayla Renard and Nicholas Foley with unlawful conduct towards a child and ill treatment of animals. According to jail records, they have been granted a bond of more than $10,000.

Chief Christopher Miller said the eight-month-old baby has been placed into the care of a family member.

"The child is OK. The child was in pretty good condition for the unsanitary condition of the house," Miller said.

Photos from inside of the home showed multiple dogs living in crates stacked one on top of each other, along with trash throughout the home.

"Just seeing the animals in that condition, it was evident that they've not been out of those crates for quite some time," Sanders said. "There were maggots crawling in the food bowls."

Sanders said the dogs were found alongside cats, rabbits, raccoons, chickens and a dead goat, which she said was found in a bin in the kitchen.

"Even just the living conditions for any human, while that's their choice, for the animals, it was not their choice," Sanders said. "To know that somebody, multiple people can live in that home and ignore those needs every single day, it hurts."

The animals are now recovering at Anderson County PAWS. Sanders, who is not a stranger to animal cruelty cases, called the conditions heartbreaking.

"Some of them are one out of nine for the body condition score, where as nine is a big, fat, obese dog, so they would not have survived much longer," Sanders said. "I just couldn't imagine if those were my own dogs. This one was tough, and knowing there was an eight-month-old baby in there as well is just — I can't comprehend."

Sanders said there could be legal proceedings in the future if the animals are not signed over into their care.

Miller said the house where the animals and baby previously lived will most likely be deemed uninhabitable.

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