A call from a concerned citizen has led Austintown Police to investigate a possible case of possible child and animal abuse or neglect.

A shopper outside a Niles department store on Sunday wrote down the license number of an SUV and called the police after noticing a young teenage boy who appeared to be bruised.

Police traced the license plate to an apartment on North Raccoon Road and spoke to the couple living there, a 31-year-old man and a 34-year-old woman.

Officers also spoke with the children there, a 13-year-old boy, a 7-year-old boy, and his 5-year-old sister.

According to the police report, the thirteen-year-old had bruising and scratches along the length of both arms as well as cuts on his legs.  Police also say the teen appeared to be malnourished.  His bare feet were also dirty.

The boy’s mother blamed the bruising on their dog, saying when her son screams the dog grabs his arm.

The shopper who reported the teen’s appearance told police that when she asked about the bruises, the mother told the boy to say that the “dog did it”.

The teen told police that his parents don’t intervene when the dog attacks because it was part of his punishment for acting out and stealing food.

Given permission from the parents to go inside the home, police say they were immediately hit with the smell of urine and feces when they opened the door.

Officers say they found dog feces throughout the home, including the kitchen and the children’s bedroom. 

The house was very dirty, and the floor was extremely sticky.  The smell of urine and feces was very strong and hard to tolerate, according to the police report.

There was only one bed in the boys' room and police say it wasn’t clean.

The children advised that their big dogs had taken over one of the rooms and the children now had to sleep on the couch or with their parents.

Police say there were six dogs in the house.

One dog was described as “very large…with long hair that was so matted, that you could hear the clumps of hair hitting the floor."

There were also two golden retrievers that police say were thin and had no food or water.

Police say the dogs were “skin and bones” and it appeared that one of the dogs could not get up off of the floor.

The Mahoning County Dog Warden and Animal Charity of Ohio retrieved the dogs along with two cats found in the home.

Jane Macmurchy of Animal Charity of Ohio tells 21 News it was like a hoarding case. 

Police found a padlocked closet where the children said the parents locked up food. When police opened the closet they found a blanket, but no food.

Jennifer Kollar with Mahoning County Children's Services tells 21 News speaking up and paying attention in these situations is crucial.

"A vigilant community is our eyes and ears, we can't do our jobs as child protective services in our community without the eyes and ears of our community," said Kollar. "If you see something that doesn't look right, make that call to local law enforcement," she said.

The parents began crying when police told them that charges would be filed against them.

The children were turned over to a relative’s care. 

As of Wednesday, Mahoning County Court records showed no charges had yet been filed against either parent.