Boy, 6, taken into state custody for safekeeping on The Murfreesboro Post

By: lar365 on 12/17/07
I am sad for not only this child but the many others who live in such poor condition. The mother should be charged with something. Our system has failed our children for too long now. We are more consumed with football stars fighting dogs than we are about children. Wake up Judicial System!

By: sister on 12/17/07
animal crulity.......What about cruilty to a child. She does not need a child if she cannot do aaany better than that.I thought that I had heard everything but this is crulity beyond all measures.This chilld does not deserve to live like that please do not give him back to her.

By: Geana on 12/17/07
I'm with you there. I have to wonder if they should even let this child back with his parents even after they clean their home. They sound seriously mentally ill to neglect their kid that way and allow him to live like an animal.

By: justdance on 12/18/07

I can't understand how people can live like that. I won't even try to imagine what it must have smelled like when the officers walked into that house! This family needs help. It would be great to have an update on this column to see how the child is doing and whether the house was cleaned up.

By: chrisnvicky on 12/18/07
YUCK! NUFFSAID!

By: sayruh on 12/18/07
okay, you may or may not believe me on this one,
but this family lives on my street, they also have a daughter in high school.
this post makes this family sound like they do not care, complete snobs, and very cruel to the animals. but this is not true. The mother cares very much for the birds, and this post failed to mention that they sell the birds to make money. and she also does this with the dogs, i do agree that there are way to many to live in one home, but i used to go to that house almost everyday (me and the daughter were real close) and they were not neglecting their son, he runs around barefoot but who doesnt?! he is a 6 year old boy who doesnt like shoes, people make it sound like they were forcing him not to wear shoes.
and to everyone who says not to give the boy back, how would you ffeel if your 6 year old and teenage daughter were taken away from you. Sure they need to clean up, they are animal people, they treat them just fine. they have not torchured them in anyway at all.

By: enid0329 on 12/18/07
Um, letting your child walk in dog poop is Ok? You say that have not tortured the animals in any way at all, but what about the child living in that filth? Sounds like torture to me.

By: Trvlace on 12/18/07
OK, keeping 45 dogs in a home in a residential neighborhood is not sane. Not to mention the birds in the house. If they had a farm and space to locate the animals it would be different. All the feces and urine in the house shows they are not treating anyone right, not even themselves. They need to be fined and made to clean up the house, go thru evaluation and see if they are capable of running a house with children in it. They are animal people alright, I mean they are animals living like that. Hurls and pinches nose at the sheer thought of this.

By: DMKW on 12/18/07
This sounds horrendous, and sayruh, why in the world would the fact that they are "selling animals to make money" be any sort of moral justification for this situation? They are clearly running a puppy mill and no child or animal should be in conditions like that. I'm sure all the dogs are healthy and up-to-date on all their shots, carefully bred, health-checked before breeding, etc., right? Not a chance in the world. For everyone considering buying puppies from the newspaper or pet store, think long and hard because chances are very good that this is the type of person you are supporting. Sure, your puppy is cute (and hopefully healthy, but probably not), but the parents are walking around in their own urine and feces, along with 15 other dogs. Not exactly a nice setting for anyone, man or beast.

They should not be allowed to own animals and should have a heck of a hard time proving they are fit to raise a child, IMO. They've clearly demonstrated that they are either completely irresponsible, or completely stupid. Either way, I pity the boy and the animals.

By: sayruh on 12/18/07
"hello-out-there" : the boy sleeps upstairs with his mom & the teenager sleeps in her room where they keep the door closed. and the boyfriend sleeps on the couch.. all the news stations are blowing everything way out of proportion, sure there is poop and sure they do have too many dogs and birds, and in no way am i saying that they should have that many. i am just talking about the boy, he has been well taken care of and he plays with the dogs all the time, they are basically his best friends, he can't get out much becase the mother cannot drive so she is stuck at home making a living working on the computer, as her job,
and "DMKW" it is not called running a puppy mill. it is called breeding and selling. that is what people do, and as a matter of fact they have had some of the dogs for a while, and some of them are nuetered and have their shots. the majority of dogs that they have are puppies, that they are trying to sell
and they mom absloulety loves birds, that is why she has so many,, i do not believe that she should have that many
but she takes care of them, may not clean up all the bird poop, but has anyone owned more than one bird before? they are messy,

and they oviously arent completely irresponsible or stupid about raising a child, there is a 16 year old daughter from the mother, and the boyfriend has grown children of his own, so dont even go there about them not being capable of rasing a child, thanks

By: littlebit on 12/18/07
Sayruh - so you say this is not a puppy mill. Fine. But who in their right mind lets dogs urinate and defecate in their homes to the point the house smells of it. Are you kidding me? A true dog breeder will have kennels set up and will keep their animals space clean.

But all of that is beside the fact, the real point is there are people living in all of this filth who should know better. The poor little boy should not have to live in all of that. You state the mom works from home, so she should have some time to clean it.

I feel sorry for the children in this case, regardless of their age, their parent should be taking better care of them. And...these people should not be allowed to have any animals.

By: sayruh on 12/18/07
littlebit- the house smells. because dogs smell. and she is not capable of cleaning.
i am not going to state her physical handicaps but, she just cant take them outside and keep up with them, i said i do not believe that she should have this many animals, but who are we to judge. she has kennals for almost all the inside dogs except for the new puppies who she keeps in a room with a gate on it.
the news has said feces was found all over the house
this is not true.
there is the boys "room" where he doesn't stay (he sleeps upstairs) and there is the, what everyone would call a dining room, but there is a gate to keep it closed off.
i have been over there plenty of times to know that the family DOES clean up after the dogs, there are too many to keep up with all the time.
but they do what they can.
again i will say that i dont think they should have this many, but thats my opinion, not theirs.
Trvlace - they are being made to clean up their house, but being fined for a messy house? thats just dumb.
and in any ways has it said ANYTHING about the boys heath? no, this mean that there is nothing wrong with him, like i said the dogs are in rooms where he does not go, he only takes them out to play with.

By: DMKW on 12/18/07
If she is not capable of taking care of them, she should not be keeping them and trying to earn her living off of them. Period.

And dogs do not have to smell bad if they are taken care of, and these clearly are not. They deserve better. It may not technically be a puppy mill, but at a minimum it is called the worst kind of backyard breeder whose sole motivation is to make money off of dogs, no matter how the dogs have to live their lives. If she is unable or unwilling to take care of her dogs, she should not have them. That's the bottom line. That may not seem "fair" to you, but the dogs have no one to speak up for what is "fair" to them, and that's why there are laws.

By: Hello-out-there on 12/18/07
The more sayruh defends the family the worse it sounds. Obiviously there are too many animals for anyone in the family to properly take care of the environment.

By: sayruh on 12/18/07
DMKW- what kind of "breeder's" motovation isn't to make money. people breed dogs, to sell them to a better place, to make money..period.
and if you look into other news place, like i have said before, the dogs were all very healthy and she takes care of them, there was even an interview on the boyfriend that lives there and he said it himself, that they had just gotten behind on cleaning up. and as i have said many times now. i am not saying in any way that she should have this many dogs, i am just stating my opinion just as everyone else on here is. and this has turned into a bog thing over the dogs, when originally it was about the boy.
no one on here will understand how sweet this boy can be. they have lived in this house for 3 years. and this boy introduced himself to people as they walked down the street. he has 3 neighbors the same age as him, he loves playing with them and all of them playing with the dogs. he loves his parents and they love him. just because they have too many pets does not mean in ANY way they do not love their son.

By: littlebit on 12/18/07
I have two dogs. My house does NOT smell one iota. I have no feces or urine on my floors. I do not believe people, especially a child, should be living in such conditions. End of story. You are obviously going to defend this person's actions no matter what. That is your prerogative.

By: justdance on 12/19/07
How can you "get behind" on cleaning up after the dogs? That's part of owning a dog. Why not show the "sweet little boy who sleeps upstairs" how to clean up after these dogs that he loves so much? There is absolutely NO excuse for having feces and urine laying around in your home. Do you have any idea what diseases you can pick up?

By: srh0703 on 12/19/07
Poor little boy. Here it is almost Christmas and he's away from all he knows, bad conditions or not.
He might not understand what or why this is happening to him.

By: Trvlace on 12/19/07
Clarification..they should be fined for animal cruelty. And taken out back and beaten for letting a child live in such horrid quarters. Even if one or two rooms are "clean", (well they can't be, because if you walk thru the crap, you track the crap right in the other rooms), the rest of the house resembles a pig sty! There hope that makes that clear. There is no defense for this, anything you say in favor of these people is wrong. They are in the wrong. You don't breed 40+ dogs in your house if that is your occupation. You keep them out doors or in a building designed to hold them and is easy to clean. Birds are also dirty animals, their feces can contain many diseases. These are in the mother's room where the kid sleeps. EGADS! PUKES and GAGS just thinking about the germs!!!!

By: sayruh on 12/19/07
well the kids are back at the house.
i saw them today.
the house is clean, and they dont have as many dogs or birds. i said they got behing because they just got a new litter of puppies this month, and another one last month. the whole house is not messy, they have one room off for the dogs to sleep in, which contains cages for almost each dog, excluding the mother and puppies. and there is another room for the dogs to play in, where they can run in and outside the house.
so no, there is not crap all over the house, know what you are talking about before you go and argue with me. and the kid want to go home, he was crying when he got taken from his family and house, he loves his parents and sister, and they love him.
end of story

By: Trey on 12/19/07
Go away sayruh. Let the big people talk. I'm sure there's something on the Hannah Montana website you can play with.

By: sayruh on 12/19/07
That's a way to get your two cents in "trey". and dang, you sure are funny, i wish everyone was as cool as you. I'm sorry i have my facts straight unlike the news stations, who blow things out of proportion so they can have a story.

By: Geana on 12/19/07
It appears that sayruh is not much older than the teenage daughter, having hung out with quite a bit, he/she tells us. I think the adults here can understand that her viewpoints are age appropriate.

Sayruh, this family may be wonderful in your eyes and I have no doubt they are kind to you. But in the real world, there are all kinds of laws, rules, and regulations that responsible adults follow. Unfortunately, their mother and her boyfriend do know of these and made the conscious decision to disregard them. I'm certain she's doing the best she knows how to earn enough income to keep a roof over their heads and pay her bills (sounds like there's no daddy involved), but there's ways to do so without the health and welfare of either the children or the animals.

By: MTgrad on 12/20/07
OK... didn't the story say they found a DEAD bird in one of the cages? Disgusting. Dispose of it properly if you're so well-versed in raising animals.

And another thing.
"In the backyard, deputies found a shed housing a large snake and five smaller snakes in cages and two large turtles. A freezer contained dead snakes and birds."

WHY WOULD ANYONE HAVE DEAD ANYTHING IN A FREEZER?

Sayruh, we can tell from your typographical errors that your comments are age appropriate. Good call, Geana. Sayruh, why defend someone when you have to go to such great lengths? Sure, sometimes the media blows things out of proportion. But it is the job of animal controls officers to penalize people for the cruelty, etc. of animals. And it's obvious that this child was living in less-than-favorable conditions.

It's near impossible to not go off on a tirade about this story. It has no doubt made everyone extremely angry. But trying to say this in the nicest way possible: they should be fined, the child should still be in state custody, the animals should be removed from the home, and the parents' faces should be mounted on a billboard somewhere.

"'nuff said"

By: sayruh on 12/20/07
okay, just because i am not considered an adult does not mean that i should be looked down upon with my opinions. I know more of what i am talking about than several other people on here. I have said tons of times about how i do not believe that should have this many animals, but i have also said this is about the boy. This whole article, even title "boy, 6, taken into custody", has been about the boy. They have fined them with small accounts of cruelty, because technically they have never touched the animals and or hurt them. they just didn't clean up.
"GrumpaEd" yes there is not as many animals now.
On another note, the reason I am getting so upset is because no one can understand the boys state of view on the whole thing, All he's ever known or loved got taken away from him in a split second. Thank goodness, he is now home and anyone and everyone who knows this family is extreemly glad that the boy and girl are back home.

By: BEAUTIFULDISASTER on 12/30/07
Well after reading this and everyone elses Opinion.... I'm with the one's that say The Boy should have been taken out... If you have to many dog's and your house is in that kinda shape... Get rid of them or clean it up.. sounds like she stayed on the computer for her JOB alot... Judging by the report on the house.. I have a best friend.. she is not only a Vet assistant she is a Animal Lover, she has Over 25 DOGS and CATS in her home with a 8 mth old son and a husband and a 8 yr old daughter going to there home numerous occasions Ive never once smelled Urine or anything pertaining to a wet or stinky dog... believe me Im not much of an animal lover, But I do love kids and this is certainly unacceptable behavior for a mother, as far as the boy not having a bed My kids sleep with me but they have a bed... and the BF haha I doubt he sleeps on the couch every night come on now. I think the officer did the right thing with the child... Sounds like the Mother Needed a Changing event to make her get up and realize the kid needs to be taken care of simple as that CLEAN THE HOUSE, TAKE CARE OF YOUR CHILDREN!!!!!