Officers rescued 65 animals, including lizards, turtles, fish, snakes and a dog, from a Baltimore home this week after their owner died unexpectedly.

The Baltimore City Sheriff’s Office said its deputies worked with Baltimore City Animal Services on Tuesday to recover the animals from the home in the 1200 block of William Street in the Riverside neighborhood.

The officers transferred the pets to Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter to provide them with medical treatment and temporary housing. Many of the animals needed “immediate attention,” according to a post from the sheriff’s office. BARCS has since sent the reptiles to other local rescue partners to care for them.

Many of the reptiles were in poor condition and dehydrated. The snakes also suffered from mouth rot, which is a bacterial infection that is common for snakes kept in poor conditions.

Advertise with us

The officers removed 42 snakes, 11 lizards, eight turtles, three fish and one dog from the home, according to Alicia Taylor Bard, a spokesperson for the Baltimore City Sheriff’s Office.

View post on X

A video and photos from the home shared by the sheriff’s office showed a room with over a dozen tanks and tubs with snakes and turtles. Some of the terrariums were stacked on top of each other.

Details about the late owner were not immediately released by the sheriff’s office.

BARCS largely cares for dogs and cats, but its website says that it cares for “all animals” in need of help. Although, the shelter said in a social media post it does not usually care for so many reptiles at the same time. Workers had to house the animals in a free-roam cat room temporarily.

Shortly after landing at BARCS, other local organizations that typically take in rescued reptiles took in the animals for continued care.

BARCS said in an email that several lizards and snakes were adopted by its staff.