Butler police say a 7-year-old boy discovered his mother passed out from an apparent drug overdose on the bathroom toilet of their home on East Boyd Avenue.

When officers got to the house Wednesday night, they found hypodermic needles on the kitchen table. The home, they said, “was a mess” with dog feces and dog food “all over the floor.”

A medical crew had to treat Melanie Lynn Dudgeon, 28, before she was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital and admitted into the intensive care unit, investigators said.

Police on Thursday obtained an arrest warrant for Dudgeon, who is charged with child endangerment, a first-degree misdemeanor.

The defendant’s son, who was not injured, was later turned over to his grandmother in Butler.

Police said they were called to Dudgeon’s home shortly before 10 p.m. The caller, a 40-year-old man who also lives there, told police that he had just returned home from Johnstown, Cambria County.

Butler police Deputy Chief David Adam said this morning that he did not know the couple’s relationship.

The man said Dudgeon’s son met him at the door, saying “mom is on the toilet in the bathroom and she won’t wake up,” according to court documents.

He recounted that he ran up the stairs and found the defendant “slouched over on the toilet with a rag tied around her arm,” apparently like a tourniquet.

Police said the man acknowledged that Dudgeon is a frequent drug user.

Officers found a needle and drug-cooking spoon in the bathroom.

A Butler Ambulance Service crew arrived and tended to the woman before she was taken to the hospital. Her condition was not known.

BMH spokesman Connie Downs said this morning that the hospital could provide no information about Dudgeon.

Police in court papers described the home’s deplorable conditions.

“The smell of the house was horrid,” said Patrolman Kory Fleming in his affidavit. “There was garbage on the floor, and the clutter made it difficult to walk about in the house.”

Adam said the Butler County Children and Youth Services agency was notified.