HAMILTON COUNTY, Fla. – Animal welfare organizations across Florida worked together in a hoarding case to rescue 25 dogs living outside on a property in Hamilton County over the last week.
Florida Urgent Rescue (FUR) said the owner was a senior citizen who went into the hospital and is not expected to come back out.
Steve Carriere from the Florida State Animal Response Coalition (FL SARC) coordinated the response and led the operation.
Steve and Kate McFall from the Humane Society of the United States rescued four dogs and the Leon County Humane Society took two.
On Thursday and Friday, a multi-jurisdictional team, including FUR, transported 18 more dogs from the property.
FUR and the Humane Society of Tampa Bay took them to a temporary holding facility at Cat Depot in Sarasota. Staff are caring for them and working on permanent placement for the dogs.
Three dogs on the property were found dead.
One dog was found on the side of the road dead from a gunshot wound. Officials said neighbors had been threatening to shoot the dogs.
As other dogs were being rescued, a puppy ran into a hollowed-out log and wouldn’t come out.
Steve Smedley and Jacqueline Pesola are two experienced trappers based in Jacksonville.
They made the trip back and forth to Hamilton County over multiple days to set up traps and cameras to rescue the puppy.
Cameras showed the puppy coming out of the log to bark all night for two nights in a row.
The organizations said they were worried about one of the neighbors shooting the puppy.
Then a neighbor’s aggressive bulldog roamed the property and scared the puppy back into the log.
The organizations built an enclosure around the log to trap the puppy. Then he was taken to Focused Pet Care in Orange Park.
Multiple organizations worked together to help Hamilton County Animal Control and rescue the dogs including:
- Florida State Animal Response Coalition (FL SARC)
- Florida Urgent Rescue (FUR)
- Florida Association of Animal Welfare Organizations
- UF Shelter Medicine Program
- Florida Veterinary Medical Association (FVMA)
- Humane Society of Tampa Bay
- Humane Society of Sarasota County
- Humane Society of the United States
- SPCA Florida
- Nate’s Honor Animal Rescue
- Leon County Humane Society
- Slomba Shelter Solutions
- Verandah Pet Hospital
- Zoetis