TROY, W.Va. (WBOY) — A man and a woman are facing more than a dozen counts of various charges, including animal cruelty, after deputies say dogs were found in a home “completely covered inside and out with trash” that smelled of “urine and ammonia.”

On Friday, Feb. 3, deputies with the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Department received a call of animal cruelty at a residence on West Virginia Highway 47 West in Gilmer County, according to a criminal complaint.

When deputies arrived, they spoke with Michelle McCullough-Stump, 32, of Troy, who stated that “she had four dogs and seven pups at the residence, and one pup had died,” deputies said.

Also during the conversation, McCullough-Stump “admitted that she or her husband had not paid any dog taxes and could not provide proof of rabies shots,” and that due to a previous conviction for cruelty to animals in Ritchie County she “had a few more years before she could have animals,” according to the complaint.

Deputies then informed McCullough-Stump that the dogs would need to be seized and that “she could feed them but she could not move them from the residence or relocate them,” deputies said.

On Monday, Feb. 6, deputies received another complaint about animals at McCullough-Stump’s residence, and when deputies arrived, they made contact with her and Michael McCullough, 30, of Troy, the two gave deputies permission to enter the residence “to check on the dogs,” according to the complaint.

While inside, deputies noted “the residence was completely covered inside and out with trash,” and that the “urine and ammonia smell was overbearing”; the residence was also without heat, electricity or running water, deputies said.

Deputies located the dogs, one of which was in a cage and six were in a bathroom of the residence and the “female dog was severely malnourished and was skin and bones,” according to the complaint.

When deputies asked McCullough and McCullough-Stump where the other dogs were, they stated “here is another dead pup and they just found it,” and that “the other two dogs had died since [Feb. 3] and they were buried out back,” deputies said.

However, when McCullough and McCullough-Stump showed deputies where the animals were supposedly buried, deputies noted “the soil had not been disturbed,” and asked McCullough and McCullough-Stump “why are they lying,” according to the complaint.

At that point, McCullough and McCullough-Stump “stated that they had an aunt from Parkersburg to come get the two dogs” … “to keep from losing them,” deputies said.

McCullough and McCullough-Stump have been charged with 11 counts of cruelty to animals, four counts of failure to register dogs, four counts of failure to vaccine dogs, two counts of disposal with no receipts, a single count of open dumping, littering and obstructing officers. They are being held in Central Regional Jail.