Couple pleads guilty to hoarding 170 Yorkies in California

It started in January: Investigators in California found dozens of Yorkshire Terriers and Yorkie mixes crammed into a dark room, its walls and floor covered in urine. The dogs showed signs of hair loss on their feces-matted fur, plus ear infections and fleas, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Investigators later found 31 more dogs kept by Mark Vattimo, 72, and Christine Calvert, 62, of Poway, a city not far north of San Diego. Then, weeks later, authorities arrested Calvert after she fled the state for Nevada with a motorhome packed with another 46 dogs, according to the newspaper.

On Monday, the couple pleaded guilty to two felony counts of animal neglect. They face three years of probation plus counseling and, as part of a plea deal, can't own pets for a decade. They'll also transfer ownership of their 31-foot motorhome to the Humane Society as restitution, per San Diego's KGTV.

The San Diego Humane Society rescued 170 dogs from the couple in all — 185 if you count puppies the pregnant dogs later birthed — and at least 168 of those found homes through adoption, the Union-Tribune reported. Three dogs were euthanized because of poor health.

Lawyers for Calvert and Vattimo, a retired police officer, declined comment to the Union-Tribune, but Deputy District Attorney Karra Reedy considered the agreement a "good outcome." 

“The most important thing is that they get the help they need for something like this not to happen again,” Reedy told the newspaper.

Follow Josh Hafner on Twitter: @joshhafner

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