Police officers in northwest Indiana are helping take care of seized dogs because the county animal shelter is overwhelmed.
Lake County police tell The (Northwest Indiana) Times that they discovered almost 70 maltreated dogs last month in a poorly ventilated garage near Crown Point.
Assistant Lake County police chief and department spokesman Dan Murchek says the sheriff is allowing officers to take dogs home to relieve overcrowding in the Lake County Sheriff's Animal Adoption and Control Center.
Murchek says the foster arrangement of the seized animals is being kept within the department and isn't open to the public.
The department is keeping custody of the dogs until the Lake Superior Court issues a ruling on the case. The prosecutor's office has charged 26-year-old Steve Rajcinoski with animal mutilation and animal cruelty.