The B.C. government has pledged to launch an investigation after CTV News revealed two foster children were living in squalor at the home of their carer.

The landlord of the filthy Victoria, B.C. home opened the doors to CTV to expose the unhygienic conditions -- which included an overwhelming stench of urine and feces and a filthy litter box inches from a refrigerator -- in a bid to have the children removed.

"I have been a landlord for 40 years and a realtor for 21, and I have seen everything -- but I have not seen this. It was so shocking, I couldn't absorb it," landlord Ray Headrick told CTV on Thursday.

Video footage of the squalor taken by CTV News prompted the B.C. government to promise a full investigation into how the children ended up living in such squalor.

Melanie Filitrow, President of the B.C. Federation of Foster Parent Associations, said the incident "should not have happened."

Appearing on CTV's Canada AM Friday, Filitrow said she hoped the B.C. government's investigation would "get to the bottom" of the situation so that "it doesn't happen again."

Filitrow insisted the case was an isolated one, and that the problem was not widespread.

"I think we have a couple of bad apples that have tarnished it for a lot of real good homes out there," she added.

Children removed

Headrick said he first noticed the stench a month and a half ago, but thought the B.C. Ministry of Children and Families would take action.

He said he made several visits to Ministry offices to alert social workers of the situation, but "nothing was done."

When the smell became so bad that maintenance workers refused to enter the rental unit, Headrick told CTV News he knew he had to take action.

"We needed to replace some windows and when the installer was gagging and refusing to put the windows in the house, I just had to do something."

He said it wasn't his first choice to contact the media. But after several visits to the Ministry got nowhere, Headrick said he became frustrated with the process and concerned for the children's well-being.

"I just told them and threatened them that I would call the media, and they sort of stonewalled me, so I did."

Conditions 'not acceptable'

After the story aired on CTV, child welfare officials removed the children and released a statement saying "conditions of the foster home are not acceptable, however...this is the first and only complaint ever registered by the landlord regarding this residence."

It went on to say that the home was being visited on a regular basis by Ministry officials.

When CTV caught up with the foster mother, she said she was unable to cope with the responsibilities any longer and that the conditions were not suitable for children.

Asked if she believed she was providing a well-kept home for her foster children, Gaetane Jarvinen told CTV Vancouver: "No, it's not, I agree with you. That's what I'm saying, I cannot keep up anymore."

Stan Hagen, B.C.'s minister of children and family development, promised there would be an investigation into the case.

"There's no question this is a bad situation. It should not have happened, we want to get to the bottom of how it happened, so it can't happen again," Hagen told CTV Vancouver.

However, this isn't the first time B.C.'s child protection system has been criticized.

In April, retired B.C. judge Ted Hughes filed a report calling the system an "unstable mess" after the B.C. government admitted that 715 child deaths had not been reviewed properly.