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Officials: Hoarding, But Owners Cared For Dogs

There are no longer signs of dogs living here at this house in Columbia County. Instead it’s a very quiet scene at the home on ridge road in Jackson Towns...

There are no longer signs of dogs living here at this house in Columbia County.

Instead it's a very quiet scene at the home on ridge road in Jackson Township where more than 200 dogs were taken out by state dog law enforcement agents.

Several dog wardens dressed in blue haz mat suits along with state police could be seen carrying dozens of chihuahuas out of the home and into a horse trailer.

"We saw the staties and the blue suits and it was a little strange," said Brandon Leahey, a neighbor.

Investigators said nearly 200 dogs were living in unsanitary conditions but all were mostly healthy.

The ones that were not, only had minor eye and teeth problems.

Investigators say, there were about 30 dead dogs found in the house stored in a freezer but officials say the owners told them it was because they were waiting to get them cremated.

Officials also said they believed this was a case of hoarding. That the owners, who are brothers, Albert and Thomas Ambrosia. Were really trying to care for the dogs it just got to be too much to handle and it got out of hand.

One neighbor we spoke with said the Ambrosias were 'very good neighbors'.

The search warrant filed by the dog law agency says the investigation was started after an employee at the Bloomsburg veterinary hospital contacted them.

The employee said Albert Ambrosia brought in 35 puppies and two adult dogs to be cremated.

Officials then searched for public dog licenses for any of the animals and found 25 other dogs registered under Albert Ambrosia`s name.

When they got to the home, they found more than 200.

"It's a very large magnitude, this is the largest animal hoarding case I personally have witnessed in my professional career with this department," said Mike Pechart, executive deputy secretary of agriculture.

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