The rotting remains of up to 25 dogs were found at the home of a champion breeder, it emerged yesterday.
Specialist cleaners called in to decontaminate the property in Portadown, Co Armagh, also found the remains of a donkey.
Neighbours of Ms Gwendolene Ferris, who died last week, said they believed that the decaying carcases had been there for some time.
A close friend said: "She was so fond of the dogs that, when they died, she couldn't find it in her heart to part with them. It wasn't a case of cruelty. It was that, after they died, she just couldn't dispose of them."
Another friend said that Ms Ferris had treated her dogs like children. "She got much more companionship from her dogs and other animals than she did from humans."
Ms Ferris (74), who was found dead in her home on Tuesday, kept kennels on the first floor of her house. A well-known breeder, she had won at Cruft's and had acted as a judge at the show.
BMS Technologies, the major contractor given the job of cleaning up Ground Zero and decontaminating the Pentagon after the terrorist attacks on September 11th 2001, is using specialist equipment to remove the overpowering smell of animal remains.
Mr Gerry Avery, director of the company, described the case as a human tragedy. "It is a very sad story and it is not my place to comment on it. We have done a clean-up job and it is ongoing."
Mr Avery confirmed that the discovery was made when its sister company, Delivery Services Ltd, was asked by Ms Ferris's executor to remove a valuable collection of antique china for sale at Sotheby's auction house. The collection of Meissen china is believed to be one of Europe's finest and is valued at more than £500,000. - (PA)