Puppy mill - 36 dogs
Fayetteville, AR (US)Incident Date: Monday, Aug 11, 2008
County: Washington
Disposition: Not Charged
Abuser names unreleased
The Washington County Sheriff's Department responded to a puppy mill Monday near Prairie Grove to rescue 36 dogs from deplorable living conditions.
The owner brought nine other dogs to the Fayetteville Animal Shelter in the weeks leading up to Monday's rescue. That's when Fayetteville Animal shelter director Jill Hatfield asked Deputy Hodges to pay the owner a visit. They were shocked with what they found.
"They were in the elements, so there was no comfort level. there were no blankets, there was no hay, they were in the mud. they had lived through the rain with semi-shelter, you know plastic barrels", says Hatfield.
The owner surrendered the animals. Some were taken to the Fayetteville animal shelter the others went to Best Friends Animal Hospital in Fayetteville. Nursing Supervisor Troy Buckland has been treating the dogs at Best Friends.
"I don't think that any of us were prepared for what we saw", said Buckland. He said some of the dogs had teeth falling out of their mouth because of the poor diet they had over a long period of time. "Animals are living entities. Nothing living should be treated like this."
Now all the dogs are being nursed back to health and will be put up for adoption. Sadly it's not a guarantee that all of them will make it. References |
