HILLIARD, Fla. – Thirty-six dogs were found when Nassau County deputies raided a home in Hilliard on Wednesday night, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Eighteen of the dogs have been removed and are now in the care of Nassau County Animal Services, but the others were still at the home Friday, some inside and some outside, waiting to be removed.
One neighbor said the dog hoarding had been a problem for years.
"They'd come in when I would be trying to sleep," said the neighbor, who didn't want to be identified, "come in on the porch, they'd leave mess all over the yard, try to bite you when you when you tell them to get out of the yard. It's just -- and the barking."
Authorities said they were first alerted to the hoarding situation about two weeks ago when neighbors called saying some of the dogs were coming onto their property. Deputies said that's when they realized how serious the situation was. They said that home did not have running water, and there were far more animals than they were prepared for.
"The dogs were not being fed every day. The water bowls had green algae in them," said Joe Novello, of Nassau County Animal Services. "The kennels themselves were in disarray and had a lot of feces in them."
Officials aren't saying much about the homeowner, only that she was there part of the time. They did say this situation could've been avoided.
As for the neighbors, they're just happy something is being done.
"That's why we had to put this fence up. We couldn't walk on the porch or nothing because of the dogs barking and all that noise, you know," the neighbor said.