A former dog breeder in Florida has now been charged with 72 counts of animal cruelty. For
over 6 years, neighbors had been sharing fears and concerns about her mistreatment of animals, but somehow, she continually was able to evade proper accountability.
Now, authorities have just rescued
36 border collies from her property. By the time they arrived,
all of the animals were completely covered in feces, which had become caked in their fur.
Sign the petition to demand a lifetime ban on animal ownership, and also mandatory intensive mental health treatment!In order to rescue the 36 animals, officials had to don protective hazmat suits to even enter the property. According to the
local sheriff, John Budensiek:
"The house is so deteriorated that about a foot and a half of drywall's gone, the furniture is destroyed, and the animals are in a deplorable condition." The home itself had "feces over every square inch." Urine had soaked into most of the home as well. Videos released on social media by the sheriff's department show the home's floors covered in thick, slimy brown muck.
The situation was so bad, authorities expressed fear that they might find deceased animals at the property. Luckily, so far, that does not appear to have come to pass.
The sheriff painted a heartwrenching picture: "The food bowls, the water bowls in there are covered in feces. The animals themselves, the dogs, which are supposed to be border collies, beautiful dogs, are covered with feces. They're supposed to [be] white and black dogs and they're solid black from the feces."
Knowing that a person was living like this, in her own home, with so many hoarded animals, is profoundly disturbing and worrisome. The woman is 62 years old and obviously is deeply unwell in some capacity.
Most people would not willingly allow their homes to become caked and soaked in feces and urine for years and years.We must demand both that Florida officials permanently ban her from ever owning, living with, or working with animals in the future. But we also must demand mandatory, intensive mental health counseling. Something deeper obviously needs to be addressed, and that would be to the benefit of everyone - humans and animals alike. Sign the petition!