FORT KENT, Maine — Police are continuing to investigate the discovery last week of a number of animals abandoned for more than a week in a Fort Kent rental home littered with urine, feces, cigarette butts, empty milk jugs and other trash.
Fort Kent Police Chief Tom Pelletier said Monday morning no charges have been filed in connection with the case.
Meanwhile, a local animal rescue group has set up a website for people interested in donating money to help defer the costs of caring for the five dogs and several cats removed from the home Christmas Eve.
As of Monday the site had raised $540 toward a $5,000 goal.
On Dec. 24, Fort Kent police received reports of a loose dog outside a South Perley Brook Road residence.
When officers attempted to return the dog to the house, they discovered the home full of trash, animal waste, four other dogs and several cats which showed signs of severe neglect, according to Sgt. Dalen Boucher of the Fort Kent Police Department.
On Friday, Wayne Vaughan, landlord and owner of the property, told the BDN, “There is trash from top to bottom [and] the tenants left those animals in there for more than a week, unattended, with no food or water. It was unbelievable.”
Vaughan said he originally rented the apartment to three women, but he suspects boyfriends of the two younger women also stayed there often. He said he had no idea that the tenants had left or that the house was so trashed until the police contacted him on Christmas Eve.
In addition, Vaughan said there was no heat in the house, a pipe had frozen, and the refrigerator door had been left open.
It appeared the pets had been left alone for at least a week.
He has since changed the locks on the doors and arranged for a cleaning service to work in the home.
Police were not releasing the names of the tenants.
The dogs — one cocker spaniel, one cocker spaniel/beagle mix, one Havanese and two Chihuahuas — were taken to to the Central Aroostook Humane Society in Presque Isle. The cats were taken to PAWS Animal Welfare Society Inc. in Fort Kent.
Staff at CAHS on Friday said the dogs were full of mats, saturated with urine and feces and suffering from a variety of infections, eye and dental issues.
The facility is closed Mondays and no information was available on the animals’ updated conditions.
Anyone interested in donating to the animals’ care may do so by going to the website www.youcaring.com and typing in “Fort Kent animals” in the search box.
