Pair With Horse, 7 Dogs in Home Arrested

This photo provided by the Modesto Police Department on Tuesday, July 17, 2007, shows a pony that was found living in a home in Modesto, Calif. Joe Silva and and Nichole Surkala, a couple who kept a horse and seven dogs inside their home were arrested, Monday, July 16, 2007 for endangering a 12-year-old child after officers found the floor covered in animal feces and rotting produce, authorities said. (AP Photo/Modesto Police Department) (AP)

MODESTO, Calif. -- Authorities removed a miniature horse and seven dogs from a home strewn with feces and rotting produce and charged the owners with endangering their 12-year-old child, officials said Tuesday.

Joe Silva and Nichole Surkala's house was so badly infested with flies that Surkala's young son had to sleep in a tent to escape them, said Animal Control Officer Jennifer Sol, who went to the residence investigating a neighbor's complaint Monday.

"There was nothing in my career that could have prepared me for what I came into," Sol said. "There were flies throughout. The (floor) had straw all over it. There were feces all over the kitchen. It was not pretty."

The child told her he slept in the tent inside his bedroom "because it was clean," Sol said. Social workers took the boy from the house and put him in protective custody, she said.

Surkala, 37, the boy's mother, and Silva, 30, his stepfather, were arrested on felony child endangerment charges. Surkala posted $25,000 bail later Monday, while Silva remained in jail Tuesday. A jail clerk didn't have any information about defense lawyers.

The couple rented out the miniature horse for children's parties, and the produce that littered the dwelling was used to feed the animal, Sgt. Ed Steele said.

"The animals were defecating all over the house," he said. "They were living in it. You couldn't walk anywhere without stepping on the stuff."

Horses are not allowed to be kept within Modesto city limits, Sol noted.

The horse appeared to be in good condition, but the dogs looked in need of attention, she said.