Woman charged with animal cruelty after SPCA investigation in Halifax

A Halifax woman has been charged with animal cruelty in connection to the Nova Scotia SPCA finding eight dogs in unsanitary living conditions on Monday.

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Gloria Adel Martel was charged Wednesday under the Animal Protection Act with failing to provide the dogs with an adequate source of water, confining her dogs to an unsanitary area or enclosure, and putting her animals in distress.

The SPCA were called to an apartment building in the Halifax area Monday night. When they arrived they found five dogs in a minivan parked outside, but one was found dead inside a garbage bag.

Shortly after an altercation with Martel, they found three more dogs hidden in another location in small crates, sitting in their own feces and urine.

All seven dogs were seized and taken to the SPCA Dartmouth Shelter. Several had to be shaven down to the skin.

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One of the dogs also had a broken leg, which SPCA Sgt. Nancy Noel said in a phone interview Friday a decision had not been made on whether to amputate.

The SPCA said on Tuesday it hopes to put the seven dogs up for adoption when the investigation is complete.

Martel is known to the SPCA and had surrendered dogs in the past she had been breeding to sell.