CERES, Calif.—An anonymous call this week led California authorities to find 86 dogs and several people living in a house where conditions were described as deplorable and unlivable.

The discovery March 19 in the Central Valley city of Ceres came after the caller requested a welfare check on a resident, a police statement said.

An older woman and a young girl were placed in the custody of Stanislaus County protective services, and three adults were arrested for investigation of child abuse, elder abuse, and animal cruelty, police said.

The Stanislaus Animal Services Agency works alongside Modesto Fire Department, Ceres Police Department, and Adult and Child Protective Services at the scene of a home where 86 dogs were rescued and a child and older woman were removed in Ceres, Calif. on March 19, 2024. (Alondra Peralta/Stanislaus Animal Services Agency via AP)

A severely matted dog who had to be sedated to be able to groom it, one of 86 dogs from a house in Ceres, Calif. on March 19, 2024. (Alondra Peralta/Stanislaus Animal Services Agency via AP)

The older woman and the girl were not identified, and police did not specify how they were connected to the individuals that were arrested.

The dogs were taken in by the Stanislaus Animal Services Agency, which issued an appeal for donations, supplies, and assistance from rescue organizations.

The agency said the dogs, many requiring medical attention, were not immediately available for fostering. People were urged to foster or adopt other dogs to make room in the agency’s over-capacity shelter.

A home where dogs were hiding underneath furniture, the walls, and the floor boards, some of 86 dogs that were hoarded in a house in Ceres, Calif. on March 19, 2024. (Alondra Peralta/Stanislaus Animal Services Agency via AP)

The Modesto Fire Department responds to a home where 86 dogs were rescued from a hoarding situation in a house in Ceres, Calif. on March 19, 2024. (Alondra Peralta/Stanislaus Animal Services Agency via AP)