Do You Know Where That Dog is Going?w/Rhaya's Post

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

Quote: 100 animals rescued from 1-bedroom upstate NY home

Posted at: 02/04/2010 10:51 AM | Updated at: 02/04/2010 11:02 AM

WHEC-TVA central New York animal welfare group is hoping the public will adopt some of the 100 animals rescued from a one-bedroom rural home.

Officials at the Tompkins County SPCA say the rescue of dozens of dogs, cats, rats, guinea pigs and chinchillas is straining resources at the Ithaca-based organization's shelter, which was already full when the animals were removed from the home last week.

Investigators say the animals were being kept in unsanitary, overcrowded conditions at a home in Brooktondale, 10 miles southeast of Ithaca. Authorities say several dead animals were found on the property.

Officials say the animals were being kept by a person who was a self-scribed "animal rescuer."

Investigators haven't released the person's name.

http://www.whec.com/news/stories/s1400592.shtml?cat=565

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum...page=1&fpart=1

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

Another one from another post:

Originally Posted by raysmom

Here is a prime example of why we need to be careful when we send a dog to "rescue". This "rescue", Humane Sanctuary, was raided recently and around 100 dogs were seized. They were found living in deplorable conditions, along with some cats, chickens, ducks and horses.

Here is a link to the story - THE PHOTOS ARE GRAPHIC - and the first photo is of a GSD. The dogs are now at the Trumbull County pound, which I believe is a kill shelter.

Sickening.

http://www.canineadvocatesofohio.org...uary/Index.htm

More:
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/287631
"Deplorable conditions, filth, feces and animals living in there including two dead dogs that the others dogs were feeding off of because they were hungry,"

http://www.tribtoday.com/page/conten....html?nav=5021

Dr. Rufus Sparks said walking around Kathy Witzman's property was "like running a gauntlet" because of the number of dogs tied up outside her Gustavus farmhouse."The cats couldn't do it. The ducks couldn't do it. We could barely walk around out there," Sparks said Monday from the undisclosed location where 162 dogs were housed following a raid Friday at Witzman's home at 5175 state Route 87.
In addition to the dogs, 18 cats, two horses, several geese, ducks and chickens were confiscated from the home.
Sparks, a veterinarian at Town & Country Veterinary Hospital in Howland, is one of about 10 local veterinarians assisting the Animal Welfare League with medical assessments and care of the animals. He said two dogs died since Friday.
Barb Busko of the Animal Welfare League said nearly all of the dogs have some kind of medical problem, whether it's dehydration or open sores. Two dogs were in a separate room, one just hours away from giving birth and another due within several days.

Thank goodness:

A woman who found two stray dogs searched the Internet for somewhere to take them and found Witzman, who billed herself as a humane sanctuary, she said.
"When she saw the conditions the animals were kept in, she contacted the sheriff's office. That phone call kicked off this process," Busko said.

Pleads innocent: http://www.vindy.com/news/2010/feb/1...lty/?newswatch

BROOKFIELD — Judge Ronald Rice of Eastern District Court ordered Kathy Witzman of Gustavus to stay away from animals until a criminal case charging her with cruelty to animals and open dumping is complete.
He also ordered that close to 200 animals taken from her home on state Route 187 on Friday and Saturday become the property of the Animal Welfare League of Trumbull County, which is caring for them at several undisclosed locations.
The league says the ruling will allow it to begin finding permanent homes for the animals, though it’s possible some will have to be euthanized.
During a Thursday hearing, Witzman, 58, operator of Humane Sanctuary Inc. for the past 14 years, pleaded innocent to the two charges and was released on a personal-recognizance bond, meaning at no cost.
She told Judge Rice she would try to come up with $2,250 in bond money by Monday to retain the rights for a month to three dogs she believed would not fare well under the care of the Animal Welfare League because of their aggressive tendencies.
“I wish I could keep them all. I just can’t afford the bond,” she said tearfully after the hearing.
Witzman said she realizes her home “wasn’t the Ritz” but thinks that her house, a barn and the backyard where she kept the 162 dogs, 15 cats, 14 chickens, five ducks and two horses kept alive a lot of animals that otherwise would be dead.
“It was a farm setting. This isn’t a million-dollar facility,” she said of the home authorities raided Friday, finding filthy conditions in the house, and dogs that reportedly were not being fed, watered or kept in a humane manner.
Witzman said she accepted dogs from all over Ohio and didn’t turn away breeds thought to be aggressive, such as pit bulls or bull dogs.
Witzman ran a “no kill” shelter, which doesn’t euthanize dogs for having aggressive tendencies, she said.
The raid put Witzman in the Trumbull County jail briefly and sent her 97-year-old mother to the hospital. It came about because a woman from Cleveland “ingratiated herself” at Witzman’s home and then brought other people there who thought dogs should not live outside during the winter, Witzman said.
Witzman said she believes the dogs — most of them living in cages or chained to dog houses in Witzman’s backyard or in a barn — were better off there than dead.
She added that she and her helpers distributed 160 pounds of dog food every day and water to every dog every day — a statement that Deputy Harold Firster of the Trumbull County Sheriff’s office disputes. Firster said he believes the dogs went long periods without food or water.
Witzman said some of the dogs were thin but only because they came to her that way. She said the two dead dogs found in the house were alive when she left but were attacked and partially eaten by other dogs because of the commotion in the house Friday.
Sean O’Brien, an assistant Trumbull County prosecutor, said that if Witzman is convicted on the animal-cruelty charge, one of the possible terms of her probation is that she be prohibited from being around animals for up to five years. Witz-man’s next hearing in Eastern District Court is March 4.
Witzman said she first started her animal sanctuary in Suffield Township, Portage County, 14 years ago and moved to Gustavus in 2001.
Barbara Busko, Animal Welfare League president, said Witzman’s desire to help animals is sincere, but Witzman apparently was unable to accept that there are limits to what she can do. Unlike other no-kill shelters that refuse to accept dogs beyond a certain number, Witzman apparently refused to turn any animals away and “got overwhelmed.”

The website: http://humanesanctuary.com/dogs4adop.aspx

Scary because they say on it:

The Humane Sanctuary, Inc. requires an application and a home visit.

Because of that...would I have thought them okay to send a dog to?

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

Just wanted to make sure Rosa saw this here.

[shilohsmom]

Many thanks Jean. Great place to put this.

[Myamom]

Do you know who you are pulling for?
Do you know who you are transporting for?
A very powerful reminder to check out who you are helping...........
just one dog . . . Floppy's story

[Melina]

I read the initial, first post...And I understand what this girl did was sick and wrong, but I'm not sure I understand her motive behind doing what she did? I skimmed through the rest of the posts to see if I could figure it out, but I still think I'm missing something.

Was she thinking she could handle animal after animal, then gave them up to shelters? Was she somehow trying to make money off them? (Though I don't know how she would giving them up to shelters). Why exactly was she doing what she was doing? Forgive me if the answer is blatantly obvious, I just am not understanding why. What she was doing is not okay, I just don't know what her reasoning for doing it is.

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

I believe she was making money. And if they weren't profitable, turning them into the shelters.

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

Just bumping this up for new members to read.

The Urgent Rescue forum is often the last hope for many rescues. It’s a place where emotions run high and haste is essential. That combination provides the energy necessary to save many Shepherds. Unfortunately, it also provides an opportunity for exploitation. There are some that visit this area only to exploit the animals and rescuers. Sadly there have been and continue to be cases were caring members have been deceived. This deception has cost some of our members a few dollars and some animals their lives.

Please remember the anonymous nature of the internet. Before you offer your financial help or surrender one of these animals, please ask yourself – What do I really know about this person?

So often rescue is about trust. It’s disheartening that there are those that will abuse that trust. Use caution and do a little research before you place your trust in people you know little about.

Hare are some warning signs:

1. Members without rescue representation who offer to foster or adopt multiple dogs within a short time period, pregnant dogs, or litters of pups.

2. Members who have fostered or adopted dogs from the rescue forums in the past, but have no current information on the disposition of those dogs. Goes double for those who have fostered or adopted dogs that ended up in questionable circumstances (lost, PTS without a viable explanation, not spayed/neutered, surrendered to shelters, given away to irresponsible owners).

3. Members who decline home visits from rescue organizations.


Here are some tips to help authenticate:

1. The PA (Potential Adopter) MUST be approved by a local rescue group. Doesn't HAVE to be a Shepherd rescue groups but I would recommend a herding or working breed group.

2. PA must provide work reference, vet reference and trainer reference.

3. PA must agree to a home check (again - by a local rescue group).

Thank you,
Rhaya

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

http://www.capemaycountyherald.com/artic...dogs+found+dead
Video on link

GOSHEN -- An animal cruelty investigation is underway at the home of Dawn Scheld, 46, of 737 Goshen Road. Law enforcement officers with the state S.P.C.A. raided the home at 10 a.m., armed with a search warrant.

Six dogs were found buried in the backyard; officers said they stopped digging because they had enough evidence to charge her.

Fifty seven sick and malnourished dogs were being kept in unconscionable conditions inside a home covered with fecal matter and urine. Dogs were also housed outside, their pens were covered in feces. Their water was frozen and little evidence of food could be found.

The dogs are receiving emergency medical attention from a veterinarian who responded to the scene.

Sheld was arrested when she came home this afternoon. She is being charged with causing the death of animals. Officials said additional charges will be filed at the conclusion of their investigation. Sheld is lodged in the Cape May County Jail on $50,000 full cash bail. Official's said she had recently returned from North Carolina with five more dogs.