OTTUMWA — Authorities brought out the red, filth-encrusted pet carrier toward the end.

It was the 17th carrier removed from a house at 90th Street and 97th Avenue on Friday. There was only one animal inside, a scruffy brown-and-white dog of indeterminate breed. The carrier was so filthy that volunteers from the Heartland Humane Society decided to put the dog in a new one for its ride to the shelter.

This dog was comparatively lucky to have the carrier to itself. Others had six or eight dogs crammed inside.

The dog was terrified. It didn’t bark. It didn’t bite. It just cowered and shook at the far end of the carrier. Volunteers tried to coax it out. It didn’t budge.

They tried to gently lift it from the carrier. The dog scrabbled at the floor. It planted a rear leg near the door and braced itself.

The outside was better. It was clean. But the dog was too scared. It knew the carrier. It didn’t know the new people.

Volunteers slowly tilted the carrier, upending it with the door open. The dog’s droppings fell out. It stayed in.

Wapello County Chief Deputy Mark Miller said the house was the worst animal neglect call he has seen in 20 years on the job. There were an estimated 80-100 dogs inside, along with a number of cats. Carriers stood stacked one on top of another, while more dogs roamed loose. Feces covered the floor.

The smell from the cages was terrible, even with a light wind outside.

“You only see it on TV,” said Sandy Hudek, manager of Heartland Humane, who came to the house.

She looked around at the empty carriers stacked in the driveway. Some had held a half-dozen puppies, each squirming around to get a look out the door.

An older dog sat quietly in another carrier, slowly looking around and blinking in the bright sunlight.

“That’s they only life they know,” Hudek said, shaking her head.