From Hoarded to Hope: Marley and Charley

Two neglected dogs found beneath matted and tangled messes

By:  Cheryl Hanna

Rocky Mount, North Carolina - Can you find living dogs underneath that mass of mats and tangles? Who could ever imagine two little dogs neglected so badly that their rescuers originally thought the animals were tree stumps in the middle of a fairway. No one was even sure they were alive.

Meet Marley and Charley - discovered last Saturday by Rick Richmond and Johnathan Cole Griswold. The men were playing disc golf; better known as "frisbee golf" on the course at Sunset Park where they frequently played - when Griswold detected a horrible odor. Thinking an animal may have died in the immediate area, the men searched and within 30 feet of where they had been looking, they came across what appeared to be two tree stumps.

It was the middle of the tournament, but this couldn't wait because Griswold saw the "tree trunk" move. The men looked closer and could see life with tiny, red swollen eyes beneath the tangles. That's when they called 911. A police officer arrived and was just as shocked. He went back to his patrol car and walked over to the "dogs" with a beef jerky stick and some water, but neither animal would move. They just laid in the fairway in the direct sunlight.

Animal Control was called, and the SPCA Alliance of North Carolina answered the call. The nonprofit organization based in eastern North Carolina rescues dogs from kill shelters in Nash, Edgecombe and surrounding counties. Everyone there is a volunteer including Shelley Milburn who immediately responded to the call.

By later that afternoon, the dogs were rushed to an emergency clinic in Wilson and were sedated and shaved. Charley, the first dog weighed in at 17 pounds when he arrived at the clinic, and after he was shaved - two hours later weighed only 10 pounds. Marley weighed 15 pounds after his bath and shave, and both dogs were then wrapped carefully in heating blankets to preserve their body heat. The attending veterinarians think the dogs are poodle/maltese/shih tzu mixes.

Yesterday, Charley and Marley were released from the clinic, and Cindy Moore who is experienced in helping dogs to be socialized volunteered to foster and rehabilitate the eight-year-old neglected canines..."  More

Additional article:  Neglected, abandoned, but look at them now

Assemblyman Tedisco says a law is needed to stop animal hoarding, abuse

By LUCIAN McCARTY

ALBANY — In light of the recent discovery of more than 130 cats being hoarded in a Halfmoon mobile home and the remains of another 44 cats uncovered in Johnsonville, Assemblyman Jim Tedisco said legislation aimed at mitigating animal abuse is needed now more than ever.

“It’s a serious problem, and I don’t think it’s going away,” said Tedisco, R-Glenville.

Tedisco sponsored three bills in January that would create a statewide registry for animal abusers, prevent them from ever legally owning an animal again and require them to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

“(Hoarding) is a form of animal abuse,” Tedisco said, “but it’s also a disease and sanitary problem for homes and neighborhoods.”

Tedisco said he would like animal hoarders and abusers to have access to mental health assistance, but also wants to prevent them from legally owning animals again.

Albany County passed a law last October to enact an animal abuse registry that is checked by pet stores and shelters before animals are sold or placed in adoptive homes. That law followed other counties in the state, but Tedisco said that is “a piecemeal effort.”

Tedisco’s proposed law would make it a misdemeanor for anyone on the registry to own a companion animal or pet.

“Owning an animal is not a right, it’s a privilege,” he said. “I don’t think we’ll ever be able to solve the problem totally, but this would help to mitigate it.”

Tedisco said the law has not yet been acted on by the state Legislature..."   Link

Feline tomb belonged to ex-club boss

By Amy Moore

The former owner of a foreclosed home where 20 cats were found dead Wednesday could face animal cruelty charges, authorities said Thursday.

Karen Crooke, the former president of and publicist for the Coastwind Cat Club - which sponsors an annual cat show in Beaumont - is listed as the owner of the home on Sandelwood Trail where officers found about 20 dead cats in filthy kennels. Four cats were found alive in the home, which was littered with trash, empty cat food cans and feces.

Two of the cats escaped as authorities and members of the city's HazMat team entered the home Wednesday afternoon. 

Matthew Fortenberry of Beaumont Animal Services said a woman left her name and contact information at the police department about the cats Thursday, but he has not been able to get in touch with her to set up a meeting. Although Fortenberry was not sure of her identity, The Enterprise found her name in county records associated with the house.

"We have to speak with the owner to see if something is wrong ... or if it was intentional that she left them there in that condition," Fortenberry said.

What, if any, charges will be filed against Crooke will be determined by her answers, he added..."  More

 

 

MSPCA at Nevins Farm in Methuen helps rescue dogs from hoarder

By Wendy Killeen

TO THE RESCUE: The MSPCA at Nevins Farm in Methuen recently teamed with a shelter in Springfield to rescue 31 animals that had been kept in the basement of a Springfield home.

Eight of the 31 dogs - 29 purebred miniature pinschers and two Belgian Tervurens - were taken in by Nevins Farm. Six of the dogs have been adopted and two remain, 12-year-old Creampuff and 10-year-old Fritter, both miniature pinschers. The rest went to a Springfield shelter.

The dogs were living in filthy conditions and had serious internal and external parasite infestation, as well as serious dental disease as a result of neglect. All were undernourished.

Nevins Farms is working to resolve Creampuff and Fritter’s health issues and then will work toward finding them permanent homes.

“This is another in a series of extreme hoarding cases we’ve seen in the last year,’’ said Mike Keiley, director of the animal care and adoption center at Nevins Farm..."  More

More than 12 cats rescued from house hoarding animals

Anaridis Rodriguez

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - 20 cats have been removed from one home in Amherst and police fear there may be more.

Police are not releasing the address of the home or the name of the person responsible for hoarding all of these animals, but what we do know is that they are still in the process of removing more animals from this home.

So far, 20 have been brought into the Dakin Adoption Center in Springfield. Nine of the cats were feral cats, which means they weren't domesticated and had to be euthanized.

It all started Thursday afternoon when Candy Lash received a call from Amherst Animal Control. Candy told 22News, “We actually got a call yesterday that there was a situation where there were a number of cats in a home in Amherst. Often times in a situation like this there are not a lot of social cats in a home where there is a hoarding situation. They are very fearful and they are not handleable.”..." More

Blog Exclusive: From Hoarded to Hope

FROM HOARDED TO HOPE:
THE STORY OF HUTCH

Submitted by:  Melissa S.

In Oct 2010 I received an email from Kim Breaux, who was in the process of establishing, NOLA Lab Rescue, in New Orleans. She was looking for support, donations and fosters in the near future. I responded I would be willing to foster dogs for her and waited.   Eventually, I received another e-mail from Kim, hoping I could foster a very special pup for a long period of time and proceeded to tell me about “Hutch”.

Hutch was one of 20 dogs that were being kept by a hoarder in a single room of a mobile home. The woman did not let them outside very often and fed them only dumplings, as that was all she could afford.  The authorities were coming the next morning to pick up the dogs that were left after several rescues had been contacted. Kim was alerted about Hutch, as he was larger and looked like a Labrador.  

When Kim picked him up from the mobile home, he was hairless with open bleeding sores. She transported him to her Vet where he was given immediate treatment for mange, fleas, and various infections. After he was free of mange, she brought him home and worked out the transport to get him from New Orleans to me, in NE Tennessee. He was transported via South Carolina with a friend then to Tennessee.  

Nancy transporter, and Melissa S.

Hutch reached us to Nov 7, 2010 where he was to be fostered, until his fur grew back and his immune system was restored. 

My Husband and I had a pack of 4 dogs, when Hutch arrived. He was a little timid at first, but he soon fell into place with the other, eating and sleeping with them.  He soon learned how to fetch the Frisbee like all the others. He really didn’t come with much “baggage” ... he was house broken in no time at all ... he was very eager to listen and learn. You could tell that he craved love and attention and began to blossom.

After he was in our home for just a few short weeks, my Husband decided he could not bear to part with Hutch, so we officially adopted him.  He is such a special boy, he makes us laugh every day. 

Hutch Today:

 Fully recovered, fully loved

He was a pitiful mess when he was first discovered, and Kim Breaux came to his rescue, but he had a face that nobody could turn away from...  We are very happy that Hutch came to live with us!

Thank you to Melissa, for fostering and adopting Hutch, Nancy for transporting him and of course 
Kim Breaux of NOLA,Lab Rescue who rescued him

If you have a "From Hoarded to Hope" story, please send it to us:  endhoarding@yahoo.com

Exhibit at Pitt aims to raise public awareness of hoarding

By Rick Wills

They horrify and amuse reality show viewers, perplex even the best psychologists and are probably a firefighters' worst nightmare.

"Hoarders are not well understood, even by professionals. They have a very difficult time throwing anything away, and it gets worse with age," said Mary Brodland, a graduate student in social work at the University of Pittsburgh.

Brodland is one of several Pitt social work graduates who organized this weekend's free public art exhibition "Canvassing Clutter." It's on display at the school today and features work by more than 20 artists.

The exhibit aims to raise public awareness of hoarding. To an extent, that's already happened in recent years thanks to cable television shows like "Hoarders" and "Buried Alive," which display hoarding at its most gaudy and compulsive.

Some cases of hoarding are legendary. In 1947, brothers Homer and Langley Collyer of New York were found dead in their Fifth Avenue mansion amid 130 tons of trash that included 14 pianos, 25,000 books, decades of newspapers and the chassis of a Model T Ford..."  More