Commerce City police officers removed three young children and nearly three dozen animals living in “squalor” at a home in the Dunes Park neighborhood on 113th Avenue just west of U.S. 85, according to a release Thursday.

Police initially responded to a report that Demetrio Urbina, 38, had performed an unlicensed veterinary procedure on a dog that later died. They obtained a search warrant on the house and discovered what they described as “deplorable conditions” that forced them to put on hazmat gear and call in for backup from other agencies.

Child Protective Services was brought in to care for three children, ages 3 to 10, belonging to Urbina and his wife, Araceli Urbina, 32.

Working with Adams County Animal Control, police officers removed 31 dogs and puppies, which were mostly hous

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