Lawyer: Mich. man with 100+ dogs had mental issues

By AP

DEARBORN, MI – A family spokesman says a 56-year-old man found living in a Detroit-area house with more than 110 live dogs, mostly Chihuahuas, and about 150 dead dogs had severe mental issues.

Lawyer James G. Schmier says Kenneth Lang Jr. had no health insurance and had a mental impairment that stemmed from rubella as a child. He says Lang lived alone in the Dearborn home for years after his parents retired to Florida.

Schmier says Lang was undergoing a psychiatric evaluation. He says he doesn't believe Lang was trying to abuse the dogs, was doing his best to care for them and had "no idea how to get out" of the situation.

Schmier says family members are devastated following this week's discovery of the dogs.

A criminal investigation was under way.