COCOA, Fla. – A Cocoa woman was arrested Wednesday after four children and nine dogs were removed from her property when they were found living in unsanitary conditions, according to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies were called to a home along Eureka Avenue for reports of children living in unsanitary conditions, and when they arrived, they found the home in complete disarray, according to an arrest report.
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Deputies made contact with Mary Nevil, 30, who allowed deputies to look around her home and property.
Deputies said there was a small, filthy pond on the property where the children were allowed to swim; they also found rusted knives lying around the pond.
Inside the home, deputies said they found feces-caked bathrooms, evidence of rats living in the home, emaciated dogs covered in mange, hardly any food and inadequate sleeping spaces for the children.
According to a report, some of the children were made to sleep on the dog beds with the ill dogs, some had to sleep on “footstools,” and some slept on the floor.
A report showed that the children were not receiving proper medical care after one child developed boils on their skin and was only given an over-the-counter medication as treatment.
Record show another child was suffering from a bacterial infections and was found to have lice that was not being treated with medication.
Nevil was arrested on charges of child neglect without great bodily harm and is being held in the Brevard County Jail on $5,000 bond, records show. The children were placed with the Department of Children and Families, and the dogs were taken for treatment by animal service officers, a report showed.