I couldn't/refused to believe this story when I first heard it on Sunday morning, but here it is:
WAYMART– Hours after 55 dogs were removed from a house on Belmont Turnpike, a number of the animals appeared to be doing well at the Dessin Animal Shelter. Others have more serious medical issues including skin problems and malnutrition. Of the animals that were removed from the home early Saturday after a neighbor reported barking, ten were either dead or dying and could not be saved.
Yikes! So, yes, this guy actually had 65 dogs in his house!
As of Tuesday the update was:
11 dogs have gone to shelters, more than 20 are in foster care, and the others are (still) at Dessin
So yikes again- it means that this shelter still has
50 dogs on its premises.
Now I know the folks at Dessin (just outside of Honesdale, above the county fairgrounds) and they are as great an animal rescue and shelter organization as you will find. But 55 dogs is an absolutely overwhelming number of animals for a shelter to take in when they normally only have 20-25 at most times. Let's hear their comments:
"Something like this is a big drain on resources, manpower, food, supplies for the shelter and now finding spaces for them," (said Debbie Moore, Dessin's Operations Manager).
"We already had a very full shelter walking into last night, so the numbers are up there," said Anderson. "We do have some shelters that are willing to help us."
Pennsylvania Humane Society Officer
Marlene Metzger said that the dogs are in dire need of being socialized:
"They are not used to human contact" outside of their owner, whose name has not been released.
She said that "these dogs have never had a collar or a leash on them" and, that when one is attached, the dogs become agitated.
"We are almost dealing with a puppy mill mentality. The fittest ate first. Some of the dogs are quite thin, others are at a good weight."
Link to state of PA's official news story on the rescue
Finally, here's Dessin's director Coslett Granza:
"The addition of 50-plus dogs to our shelter, when we were already at capacity, is a huge drain on our resources, manpower, food and supplies. These dogs appear malnourished. They are very thin and have a lot of hair loss. Some have overgrown nails through their foot pads and others are blind. Cases like these not only take a toll on the psyche of our over-extended staff. They cost the shelter a great deal of money. These animals will need vet care, to be spayed and neutered, housed and nursed back to health,"
And I don't normally do this, but if you can help out in any way, a paypal link (and Dessin's address) is on their homepage here:
http://www.dessinshelter.com/
Better yet, if you are nearby and can actually visit the shelter (570) 253-4037, please do! You can volunteer to walk a dog, or even just hold and pet it! Map to the dogz
And better still, if you could take a dog in (foster it) for a short time, that would be a good thing, and of course actually adopting the critter bestest thing possible!
Latest UPDATE:
A Waymart man faces charges after authorities removed 55 malnourished dogs living in their own feces from his home.
Dessin Society Executive Director Dara Coslett Granza said neighbors called Waymart police Sept. 6 to complain of loud barking coming from Keith Stoddard's Belmont Street home, where police later found the animals.
Ms. Coslett Granza said many of the mixed-breed dogs, ranging from puppies to pregnant mothers, were so malnourished that their fur was falling out. Some of them were blind and none of them were spayed or neutered. They were removed and placed with the Dessin Animal Shelter.
"They are skin and bone, some of them," she said.
UGH!!!