More than 80 dogs, cats removed from south Macon home

Dozens of cats and dogs were removed from a south Macon home by the Macon-Bibb County Animal Welfare on Tuesday.

Workers originally responded to 4080 Worsham Ave. about 2:30 p.m. because resident Dennis Hastings, 61, agreed to surrender some of the estimated 80 to 90 cats and dogs living in the home.

"When they got to noticing the condition of some of the animals, that's when they called the Bibb County Sheriff's Office," said Deputy Clay Williams.

The determination was made that all the animals needed to be confiscated because of "extremely dangerous and deplorable living conditions," according to a release from the sheriff's office.

Williams said that feces filled the home to such a degree that workers had to wear face masks to remove the animals, some of which may not survive, the release stated.

Hastings, who lives in the home with his wife, Peggy Hastings, had been in contact with animal welfare agencies in the past about moving animals to other locations.

"The gentleman claims to be trying to assist in rescuing the animals," said Williams, who noted most of the dogs are smaller breeds.

Dennis and Peggy Hastings were arrested and charged with felony animal cruelty. Williams said that as bad as the situation was for the dogs and cats, such an occurrence wasn't uncommon.

"I know we've had this many before, unfortunately," he said. "I know we've had people who are trying to help but end up doing more than they can handle."

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Bibb County Sheriff's Office at 478-751-7500 and ask to leave a message for the on-call property investigator or call the Macon Regional Crimestoppers at 877-68-CRIME.

To contact writer Jeremy Timmerman, call 744-4331 or find him on Twitter@MTJTimm.

This story was originally published December 29, 2015 at 7:38 PM with the headline "More than 80 dogs, cats removed from south Macon home ."