ROWAN COUNTY, N.C. -- A Rowan County couple is charged with four counts each of misdemeanor child abuse.

Deputies say the home they were staying in with four children was unlivable.

The Rowan County Sheriff's Office says they received a call on Tuesday around 4:30 in the morning that someone at the home on Stokes Ferry Road needed help.

When they arrived, the caller, Chance Daniels, said he thought someone was walking on the roof of his house and talking to him.

The deputy asked if they could go inside and once inside he said they were hit with the smell of musk and ammonia, clothes and trash littered around the home, and the bathroom and kitchen hadn't been cleaned in a while.

He also says the home was only about 50 degrees inside.

A 4 and 6 year old were even sharing a crib mattress on the floor of one of the bedrooms, and there were two fish aquariums with brown water and rotting fish in them.

The deputy came back the next day with a court summons for the couple.

Deputies say when they did return, the condition of the home was significantly better and the couple had cleaned some of the mess.

DSS is investigating the situation, but at this time the children are still staying with the couple at the home.