BELLAIRE — A dog and several cats were rescued Saturday from a village home that was in deplorable condition, according to the Belmont County Rescue League.

League officials said 12 cats and one dog were taken from the Bellaire home. The league is consulting with the county prosecutor about potential charges against the pets’ owners, according to published reports.

“Saturday’s cats have a long road to recovery. The conditions of the house were deplorable, and the ammonia odor was overwhelming. They have fleas, eye discharge, behavior problems and will likely develop respiratory problems.

“These cats will need fully vetted including eye drops, antibiotics, FeLV/FIV tests, worming, flea medication, vaccines, and spayed/neutered,” according to BCARL’s Facebook page.

There was also a yellow labrador retriever found in the house.

“Abe is a 3-year-old lab mix who needs a soft place to land by way of a foster family. He needs lots of love, patience, and a good diet. Abe hasn’t been outside in two years. Can you imagine never leaving your home or smelling the fresh air for months and months? Neither can we. He lived in the same awful conditions as the cats,” BCARL noted.

The rescue league said those who would like to foster the dog can call 740-792-9712.

BCARL Director Howard Goldman said Monday that the animals were surrendered and not seized.

“We have this case that we’ve been working on in Bellaire. It’s someone who’d previously pled guily to animal cruelty charges. We’ve been working with her since January of 2020 trying to solve the problem and improve conditions and reduce the number of animals in her care, and when we got there last week on Thursday the conditions were just deplorable, so we felt the animals needed to be removed, so the owner surrendered the animals,” he said.

He did not give the woman’s name or address.

Goldman said his office is working with the prosecutor’s office.

“When animals are in these conditions, the people probably shouldn’t hold animals in the future, and that’s our main concern,” he added.

The cats were confined to a bedroom.

“No access to sunlight in that room. The smell of the ammonia was enough to make your eyes water and the throat burn,” he said. “There was one dog that was physically unable to (go) down the stairs, so he hasn’t been outside in months.”

Ten cats had been kept in the room for a long period. Two cats were more recently acquired. There were 13 animals in all.

“We’re in the process of getting them all to the veterinarian,” Goldman said, adding it was difficult to schedule appointments due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re going to have them all vetted in the next couple of days,” he said. “We can tell by observation that some have eye problems. Some have skin problems. You can imagine the amount of fleas in a situation with that many cats in one room.

“I think neglect got to a level where improvement couldn’t be made,” Goldman continued. “I think with good intentions, but inability to care for the animals, it’s gotten worse over time.”

On Friday, the league also took in 10 other cats and kittens. These animals were not seized from a home. However, the animals are malnourished and need extra care that is costly.

“We are bottle feeding, but the prognosis for the tiniest preemie kittens is not good. The older litter is sick as well. We will do everything in our power to nurse them back to health,” BCARL wrote on its Facebook page.

The organization is looking for donations to help care for the more than 20 new animals in its facility that all need extra care and food. Volunteers to help socialize and interact with the animals are also needed.