The parents accused of shackling and torturing their 13 children, left their former home "waist-deep in filth" and strewn with the bodies of dead dogs and cats, a former neighbour has revealed.

David and Louise Turpin were arrested at their home in Perris, California when their 17-year-old daughter escaped from a window and called the police.

Investigators found a number of the children shackled to beds with chains and padlocks.

It has since emerged that the couple moved to California in 2011, from the Texan city Rio Vista, where they lived in a four bedroom house on a 36 acre property.

They lived there from 2000 until the house was foreclosed 11 years later.

Neighbour Ricky Vinyard said he walked through a double-wide trailer on the property, which the family is believed to have moved into after trashing the main house which he said was "waist-deep in filth".

"There were dead dogs and cats in there," he told the Los Angeles Times.

He added that he found two Chihuahuas on the property which had survived by eating waste from discarded soiled nappies heaped in the family's Ford F-150 truck.

"It seemed like that's all they ate," he said, adding that the living room in the main house that had been fashioned into a makeshift classroom and was covered in faeces and excrement.

"Everything had locks on it: The closet had locks, the toy chest, the refrigerator," he added."There were no beds, just mattresses. There wasn't a place in that house that wasn't filthy."

Mr Vinyard also said that the Turpins kept the lights on and the blinds drawn at all hours at the home, adding that one Christmas they bought eight new children's bicycles but left them outside, unused, until they became sun bleached.

It has also emerged that after the family arrived in 2000, one of the older girls tried to escape but was eventually returned by a local resident.

A deputy was called to the house in 2001 when the Turpins' then four-year-old daughter was bitten in the face by the family dog, which led to the girl receiving stitches in hospital and the dog being taken to a veterinarian to be put down, according to police reports.

Mr Vinyard's uncle also called the sheriff when three pigs belonging to the Turpins got loose in 2002, but Mr Vinyard said that he and his wife decided not to alert authorities about their suspicions of abuse.

Turpin family: 13 siblings who were held captive by their parents Show all 15 1 /15 Turpin family: 13 siblings who were held captive by their parents Turpin family: 13 siblings who were held captive by their parents David and Louise Turpin with their 13 children who were being held captive by their parents in the family home in Perris, California. Facebook Turpin family: 13 siblings who were held captive by their parents Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin speaks during a press conference announcing charges against David Turpin and Louise Turpin in relation to their 13 malnourished children found chained in their home, in Riverside. The two parents were charged with multiple counts of Child abuse, torture, abuse of dependent adults and false imprisonment and could face close to 100 years to life in prison if convicted. EPA Turpin family: 13 siblings who were held captive by their parents The home of David Allen and Louise Anna Turpin, where some of their children were bound with chains and padlocks. Reuters Turpin family: 13 siblings who were held captive by their parents David Allen Turpin poses for a mugshot after being arrested. Riverside County Sheriffs Department via Getty Turpin family: 13 siblings who were held captive by their parents One of the captives, a 17-year-old girl, escaped over the weekend and notified the Riverside Sheriff’s Department. Facebook/David-Louise Turpin Turpin family: 13 siblings who were held captive by their parents Perris residents watch as media gather in front of Turpin family home. The Sheriff's deparmtent said "the parents were unable to immediately provide a logical reason why their children were restrained in that manner." AFP/Getty Turpin family: 13 siblings who were held captive by their parents The children were found in dark and foul-smelling surroundings and "The victims appeared to be malnourished and very dirty,” the department said. Facebook/David-Louise Turpin Turpin family: 13 siblings who were held captive by their parents Neighbours stand outside the home. Getty Turpin family: 13 siblings who were held captive by their parents Louise Anna Turpin poses for a mugshot after being arrested. Not all of their victims were children: of the 13 victims, seven were between the age of 18 and 29, according to the Sheriff's Department. Riverside County Sheriffs Department via Getty Turpin family: 13 siblings who were held captive by their parents David and Louise Turpin in 2015. Authorities arrested them on torture and child endangerment charges, setting bail at $9m (£6.5m) apiece. Facebook/David-Louise Turpin Turpin family: 13 siblings who were held captive by their parents David Turpin and Louise Turpin appear in court for their arraignment in Riverside Reuters Turpin family: 13 siblings who were held captive by their parents David Allen Turpin and his wife, Louise Anna Turpin celebrate a renewal of their wedding vows with Elvis impersonator Kent Ripley in Las Vegas in 2011 A Elvis Chapel via AP Turpin family: 13 siblings who were held captive by their parents David Allen Turpin appears in court for his arraignment in Riverside. Prosecutors filed 12 counts of torture, seven counts of dependent adult abuse, six counts of child abuse and 12 counts of false imprisonment against Turpin and his wife, Louise Anna Turpin. The Press-Enterprise via AP Turpin family: 13 siblings who were held captive by their parents Neighbour Liza Tozier, and her son, Avery Sanchez, 6, drop off his large "Teddy" as a gift for the children. AP Turpin family: 13 siblings who were held captive by their parents Louise Turpin appears in court for her arraignment in Riverside. Authorities say the abuse left the children malnourished, undersized and with cognitive impairments. Reuters

"We discussed it and we didn't want to have repercussions with them," Mr Vinyard said, citing that he would often see David Turpin in his driveway shooting cans with a pistol, aiming towards the road. I feel really guilty we didn't."

Before moving to Rio Vista, records show the family lived 50 miles away in Fort Worth, Texas, between 1990 and 1999.

However, Patrick Crimmins, of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, said that his agency had no record of investigations concerning the Turpins.

After the Turpins left and the house was foreclosed, it was bought by Billy Baldwin and his mother as a rental property.

Mr Baldwin told ABC Ne.ws the condition of the house was "just nasty" with "all kinds of stuff" over the walls and carpet, with the bathroom floor "totally rotted out".

The trailer that Mr Vinyard described had been removed by the time Mr Baldwin purchased the property.

The Turpins have pleaded not guilty in Riverside County, , to multiple counts of torture, child abuse, abuse of dependent adults and false imprisonment after their children, aged two to 29, were rescued from their home in .

David Turpin, 56, has also been charged with one count of a lewd act on a child by force.

If convicted, he and his wife Louise, 49, face up to 94 years to life in prison. They are being held on bail of $12m (£8.6m) each and are due back in court on 23 February.

The children were exclusively home-schooled, except for the eldest, meaning that there did not need to be any outside contact with them under Californian law.

As more details about the case have emerged, Californian politician Jose Medina has begun drafting legislation to give greater oversight of home-schooled children to prevent anything like this from happening again.

"What happened in the city of Perris was tragic and it was horrific," he told The Telegraph. "And I would like to try to do everything I can to ensure that it doesn't happen again.