DENVER (KDVR) The Commerce City Police Department seized dozens of animals on Wednesday after finding them and three children living in “deplorable conditions.”

The children’s parents are facing numerous charges in connection to the animals and the children’s conditions.

“Officers had to wear hazmat suits to go in,” said Joanna Small, a public information officer with Commerce City. “They were disturbed; it was one of the worst cases we’ve seen in Commerce City in a long time.”

Officers on Wednesday served a search warrant at a house in the 10200 block of East 113th Avenue and found 31 dogs and puppies, two cats and two guinea pigs in the home, police said in a press release.

Officers also found the three young children between 3 and 10 years old.

“We were originally called to the residence after 38-year-old Demetrio Urbina performed an unlicensed veterinary procedure on a dog that subsequently died,” police said. “Our investigators discovered Urbina and his wife, 32-year-old Araceli Urbina, had 35 animals living in squalor inside the home along with their young children ages 3 to 10 years old.”

The dogs were mostly contained in small cages in the garage, and officers also found the body of a dead dog in an outside trash can.

“There are tons of vehicles parked all over the street, trash piled up in the driveway and officers were wearing hazmat suits; it was disgusting,” Small said. “However, we did find a dead dog in the trash can outside. You don’t throw your pet away in a trash can on the curb; that was horrific for officers to see.” 

Demetrio Urbina and Araceli Urbina are now facing charges of felony animal cruelty, child abuse, practicing a profession without a license and operating a pet facility without a license.

The Commerce City Police Department is working with Adams County Animal Control, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the Colorado Department of Agriculture and Child Protective Services, as well as several different animal shelters, which will house the seized pets.

“A lot of the dogs were very pregnant and there were young puppies, a week old,” Small said. “It was incredibly unfair for those children to be living inside that home, like a squalor.” 

Small said investigators were moved to tears when they saw a paw sticking out of a trash can.

“It has been a concern for a while, just the smell when we walk by,” a neighbor who wanted to remain anonymous told affiliate KDVR’s Courtney Fromm.

“The amount of cars it’s like a junk yard,” a neighbor said. “It’s a sad situation, especially with the kid. Not knowing what they are living in or the conditions they are living in.” 

Police said more charges are possible as it is an open investigation.