Las Vegas NowAnimals Often Victims of Foreclosures

Animals Often Victims of Foreclosures

Nevada is still at the top of the list when it comes to foreclosures. According to RealtyTrac, the number of foreclosures in the U.S. grew by more than 70-percent in the third quarter of this year compared to the same time last year.

Nevada saw an 11-percent increase since last month. In September alone there were more than 13,000 foreclosure filings. Too often, the victims of foreclosures are animals left behind when the owners or tenants are forced to move.

A terrible case surfaced just this week. Dozens of animals and exotic insects were abandoned in a vacant house in the Lakes. When deputies from the Las Vegas Constable's Office entered this home, they could not believe what they found.

SLIDESHOW: Pets Seized in Eviction at Foreclosed Home

But the constable says scenes like these are becoming more common as the economic squeeze continues.

All of the animals recovered from the scene are now on a 10 day hold at the Lied Animal Shelter. That means they will not be destroyed until there are additional instructions from animal control. The animals were seized from a home on Whittier Court in the Lakes.

Deputy Constable Lieutenant Dan Palazzo was one of the first through the door, "When we entered, basically what we found was the whole bottom floor with bare floor, feces, urine all over the floors -- even on the carpet going up the stairs. So it was a pretty despicable sight actually."

Public records show the house was foreclosed upon in April of 2007. The constable's office moved in after a court order for an immediate eviction of the owner -- a man named David Kopulos. But Kopulos was not living in the home.

Court documents show Kopulos' tenant tried to stop the eviction saying she was under lease-option to buy the property. But a judge found the tenant had no standing -- the apparent victim of yet another foreclosure scam.

"The sheer volume of it yesterday and the sheer squalor the animals were in, I really believe that is more of an unusual case," said Robert "Bobby" Gronauer.

Gronauer is the elected constable. It is the job of his office to enforce eviction orders, these days about 3,000 each month. Gronauer says more than half are foreclosures and the economic downturn is resulting in more heartbreaking cases involving animals.

"More animals are being left at houses that are being foreclosed upon," he said.

We did reach the tenant by phone. She says she actually left this residence several months ago fearing an eviction may be coming. She says the animals belonged to several families and were being fed two times a day while they tried to find suitable accommodations for the animals.

Efforts to contact the former owner of the home were unsuccessful.

A spokesman for Las Vegas City Animal Control says 49 charges will likely be recommended against the owner or owners of the animals. It will be up to the city attorney to decide how to proceed with any potential prosecution of this case.