Photo:BISSELL Pet Foundation
BISSELL Pet Foundation
Dozens of dogs are warm, safe, and dry again after days in the elements.
At the property, the sheriff’s department reportedly found numerous dogs chained to trees, locked in cages left outside, and running free around the flooded trash-covered property. After discovering the severity of the situation, the Newton County Sheriff’s Department contacted Animal Rescue Corps — a national nonprofit animal protection organization — for assistance in rescuing the dogs.
Second Paw Dog Rescue did not respond to PEOPLE’s rescue for comment.
“At the first property, we found dozens of large dogs running loose and about a dozen confined in pens and tethered to trees. All of them were very dirty, and many had obvious wounds, emaciation, and broken teeth from trying to chew their way free. Several had mange, and one had a broken leg that had been broken for a long time,” Michael Cunningham, the shelter director and public information officer for Animal Rescue Corps, tells PEOPLE of what he saw during the rescue mission.
The dogs saved from the Newton properties were transported to Animal Rescue Corps' Rescue Center in Gallatin, Tennessee, where they received medical exams, vaccinations, and any necessary treatments for pre-existing health issues.
Once the canines recover from their ordeal, Animal Rescue Corps plans to work with their rescue partners to find forever homes for all of the dogs. According to Cunningham, Second Paw Dog Rescue’s operators have been charged with six counts of felony animal cruelty.
Despite what he saw at the Newton properties, Cunningham encourages animal lovers not to jump to judgment.
“It’s easy to point a finger at a person and say, ‘It’s all their fault!'” Cunningham says.
“But the fact is that most shelters in this country are bursting with homeless animals, and perfectly adoptable animals are being put to death every day, and that is all of our responsibility,” he adds.
Cunningham is optimistic about what the rest of life will hold for the dogs saved from the Newton properties, primarily based on the sweet personalities he met during the upsetting circumstances.
“I was expecting some to exhibit negative behavior, which I’m used to in cases like this, but most of them greeted us with tail wags and were very sweet. Several jumped into our truck when we opened the doors to unload our equipment or climbed into our crates willingly. Overall I was pleasantly surprised with how sweet they were to complete strangers,” he says of the rescued dogs.
The dogs are enjoying their time out of the woods and in the arms of loving caretakers.
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To learn more about Animal Rescue Corps and BISSELL Pet Foundation andsupport the nonprofits’ life-saving work, visitthe organization’s websites.
source: people.com
