Scores of toy poodles seized from home

RALEIGH -- About 80 toy poodles and 30-odd other dogs are being treated at N.C. State's vet school after an investigator seized the animals from their owner, saying the tiny dogs were living in squalor.

Where they go next depends on whether charges are filed against Janie Conyers, 77, who until last week kept 112 dogs and eight birds at her home at 8252 Holly Springs Road, southwest of Raleigh. The birds were seized, too.

Wake County Animal Care, Control & Adoption officials said Thursday that the dogs were being examined. If Conyers is not allowed to keep the dogs, they could soon be put up for adoption. Potential owners have already come calling.

"It can take months, but we will contact them when and if the animals become available," said Michael Williams, director of the Wake County Animal Care, Control & Adoption Center.

According to a search warrant, animal cruelty investigators got a call from someone who had taken a poodle to Conyers' home to breed it. The caller said the home was filthy and crowded, which prompted an investigation.

Kelli Ferris, one of the investigators who went to the residence Oct. 19, found it infested with cockroaches and piles of feces in the basement, where the dogs were kept, according to the warrant.

"The parrot cages are caked with moist food and feces and roaches are crawling among the peanut shells that layer the cage bottom," Ferris wrote on the warrant.

Conyers could not be reached. A resident of a trailer on the property refused to discuss the case.

Williams said that if Conyers is charged, many of the dogs would be prepared for adoption. Some potential owners would have to sign waivers guaranteeing that the dogs would continue to receive care for any pre-existing ailments.

Judy Butler, president of the Central Carolina Poodle Club, said even healthy poodles require a lot of care.

"It's a high-maintenance dog because there's a lot of grooming that has to be done," Butler said.

Williams would not provide details on the condition of the animals.

"I'll just say [the filth] was sufficient enough that the investigator could take possession of them," he said.

Doctors and students have continued their normal routines at the N.C. State College of Veterinary Medicine, said Ferris, who is also a vet at the college. She said nothing would happen with the poodles for some time but suggested an alternative for possible poodle shoppers:

"Come in and see the many other dogs here for adoption."