COCOA, Fla. — A Brevard County woman was arrested after two children were found walking barefoot in a house coated with dog feces and covered in trash, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office said.
Tamara Daniels, 52, told deputies that the children, whose ages were not given, were not enrolled in school, a sheriff’s office report said.
Deputies and employees of the Florida Department of Children and Families responded to the Cocoa residence at about 7:46 p.m. Sunday on reports of children living in unsafe conditions, investigators said.
Before they could get to the home’s front door, deputies said they could tell something was wrong.
“An overwhelming, distinct odor of dog urine and suspected feces was (coming) from the residence,” the report said. “(It) could be detected several feet away from the closed front door.”
Investigators found the home was infested with roaches, which were “crawling on all surfaces to include food inside a microwave and refrigerator.”
“The residence was in complete disarray, with dried dog feces and urine covering the entire floor throughout the residence,” the report said.
Daniels told the deputies she had 20 dogs living in the house, but the dogs could not be found due to the sheer amount of debris, the report said.
Garbage was also found in heaps around the house, deputies said.
Some piles of trash were “higher than one of the juvenile’s bed, which forced one of the juveniles to sleep on a couch in the living room,” the report said.
Black dirt covered the walls and choked an air filter in the home, and dirty dishes were all over the kitchen countertops, investigators said.
Both of the children living in the home were seen walking around barefoot “and had dog feces caked on the bottom of their feet,” the report said.
Daniels was arrested and charged with two counts of felony child neglect.
She was being held on $10,000 bail in the Brevard County Jail.
The children were removed from the home and placed in the custody of a relative.
Cox Media Group
