‘These animals were betrayed': More than 600 recovered in near-record rescue

[jpak]

Source: Washington Post

More than 600 animals were rescued from a North Carolina shelter this week in what one national anti-animal cruelty group said was among the largest rescues in its history.

National and local animal advocates teamed up with local police to recover hundreds of animals, including dogs, cats, horses and pigs from the Haven, a private, no-kill shelter in Raeford, N.C.

“These animals were betrayed by the promise of going to a place that is a safe haven for animals, and it is anything but that,” Tim Rickey, senior vice president of field investigations and response for ASPCA, said in a video posted by the group. “We’re finding lethargic and lifeless dogs throughout the property and the same thing with cats.”

In a statement posted Wednesday, the day of the rescue, Rickey called the operation one of the largest companion-animal rescues in ASPCA’s 150-year history. At the time, the group said it recovered more than 270 dogs, 250 cats, 40 horses and several pigs from the 122-acre property. That number has since risen: The group now says it rescued at least 600 animals.

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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/01/30/these-animals-were-betrayed-more-than-600-recovered-in-near-record-rescue/

[trueblue2007]

1. i hope these wonderful animals find loving "furever" homes

[SheilaT]

2. I'm going to express a somewhat unpopular opinion here,

but euthanasia can be a kinder alternative, certainly to these conditions.

[ciaobaby]

3. Your not alone

This is the ugly side of "no kill" shelters. These animals were kept in a living hell.

[SheilaT]

4. Another, I think I will call it a fallacy, of supposed no-kill

shelters is this: they essentially farm out the killing to other shelters. They cannot take in all animals. At some point they're full, and don't take any more. It does seem as if that shelter in NC didn't quite understand that there was a realistic limit to how many animals they could take in and care for properly.

About fifteen or so years ago I was doing volunteer work for a local shelter. They had volunteers, maybe staff, who went out to elementary schools to educate the kids about animals and shelters. Anyway, one of the pieces of information was this: that there are so many excess cats and dogs in this country that every single family would have to have something like three dogs and seven cats, or maybe it was five dogs and four cats -- I forget the exact numbers but they were in that range -- for every single cat and dog to have a home. That simply is not possible. Not every family wants or can house even one cat or dog, let alone that many.

[LisaL]

5. Wouldn't be so many if people were responsible and spayed and neutered.

[SheilaT]

8. So very true.

Unfortunately, a lot of people aren't responsible.

[tblue37]

13. And many simply *cannot afford* to have their pets spayed or neutered! I can't tell

you how many friends' pets I have paid to have neutered, even though I can't afford it either. Fortunately, my vet trusts me and lets me pay off the cost of each in payments.

One of my 4 cats (now 5 and a half years old) is the accidental offspring of a friend's 1-year-old female who got out of the house once when my friend's mother stopped by my friend's house to drop something off while my friend was not at home. The cat was in heat, so of course she dashed for the door and got out--and came home pregnant with 4 kittens. I adopted one, the mother who accidentally let her out took two, and my friend's ex took one. As soon as the kittens were weaned, I paid to have the mama cat spayed, because no way my friend could afford to, even if allowed to make payments over time.

If local governments would set aside some funds to help people with the cost of neutering their pets, I guarantee we would not have as many homeless cats and dogs. If people care about the suffering and deaths of all those animals, they would push for such assistance.

[SheilaT]

14. Depending on where someone lives,

or the local vets, spaying an neutering isn't always expensive. I know that where I live, Santa Fe, NM, there are low cost spay and neuter clinics.

I really do understand limited income. I myself make lots of choices about how I'll spend my money (go off on various trips happens to be a high priority) and there are lots of things I don't feel I can afford.

And thank you for being so good as to pay for your friends' pets spaying and neutering. I hope I'd be good enough to do the same for others. I just don't happen to know people in that situation. I know, sheltered life here.

[TexasBushwhacker]

11. And some animals just aren't good candidates

for adoption. When no kill shelters accept those animals - elderly or ill animals or Ines with extreme behavior problems - it means a spot is lost for an animal that IS adoptable.

[1monster]

6. It depends on the model of "no kill" shelter. A local one fosters out cats and dogs

until forever homes have been found. In fact, we fostered three of my current brood before deciding to keep them. There are several no kill shelters/adoption agencies in our area.

Unfortunately, a neighbor's cat contracted the feline herpes virus and passed it on to some of the cats in my home. Another of the rescues I have was outside for at least two years, and he also has feline herpes. (Two of my cats have advanced cases of the virus, {the cat that was outside for two years and another who has other health problems}; the rest show very few symptoms as yet.) Which means all of my cats have been exposed/infected with the virus, and I cannot take any more rescue cats in while these are still living. Since the youngest is just over a year old (the oldest is 18 years old), that's gonna be a long time, unless they find a cure.

[Kali]

9. I'll go further...

I suspect a good portion of these small, private shelters are actually just hoarders with a bit of fundraising skill.

[yardwork]

10. I think that is often the case, yes.

They are enabled for a long time by well meaning supporters who can't or won't see what's happening.

There's always a lot of magical thinking too - "We'll turn this around tomorrow. All we need is some donations and we'll fix this."

[Hissyspit]

7. This is just down the road from me.

Years ago I used to take Linden Spears extra cat food.

This has been going on for years and is a complex story.

[jmowreader]

12. Stories from the local paper about The Haven

http://www.fayobserver.com/news/local/haven-closure-it-was-a-pretty-horrible-situation-they-were/article_32658971-7f09-5e81-934c-bf61999d6289.html

http://www.fayobserver.com/news/crime_courts/hoke-county-shelter-with-animals-seized-owners-arrested/article_3160ecb1-a658-5089-828d-ac5660221548.html

http://www.fayobserver.com/news/crime_courts/dead-animals-found-buried-on-haven-shelter-property/article_79873966-148c-50ad-b8fa-0e08a1d9dbc6.html

[SheilaT]

15. Reading the articles makes it heartbreakingly clear

that all animals cannot be saved. I understand, at least somewhat, the impulse to save animals. But what I don't understand is them not recognizing when things got beyond their control.

What's really sad is that while these people had taken in an unusually large number of animals, there are similar situations, I'm sure, all around the country.

[Rod Beauvex]

16. This is why it needs to be harder to get pets.

Pet stores should be outlawed, and breeders heavily regulated.

[Liberal_in_LA]

17. kick