Donations of clothes and money are pouring in for three children who were "basically abandoned" by their mother for years, living alone in a suburban Detroit home among trash and feces, a sheriff said Tuesday.

"You wouldn't do this to an animal let alone your child," Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said.

Bouchard said the mother would occasionally leave food on the porch at the Pontiac home but lived elsewhere and had little contact with the children, a 15-year-old boy and two girls, ages 13 and 12. She's now in jail while prosecutors consider filing charges.

Police found the children Friday after a landlord said the mother was behind in paying rent and wondered if there was a problem at the house. The scene was so extreme that investigators wore hazmat suits.

"Trash was piled in some places three and four foot high. Everything was covered with feces and trash," Bouchard said. "The toilet had become non-functional. That's the kind of situation these poor kids had been living in for years, not just hours or days - for years."

The boy indicated that he had left the house only two times, "once because he wanted to feel the grass, which by itself is heartbreaking," the sheriff said.

Bouchard said they were "basically abandoned" and afraid to leave.

He said the children might have been living alone for more than four years. Bouchard said the mother and delivery businesses would drop off food, though drivers apparently were not aware there were children inside.

Their father lost contact with the kids while in prison and was barred by their mother from seeing them when he was released, the sheriff said.

After just a few days, the children are making great progress, with medical exams, fresh clothes and help with hygiene, Bouchard said.