There are all different sorts of scenarios that lead people to hoard animals. Some people breed pets irresponsibly and end up overrun with animals that they treat more like products than pets.
Some people are slovenly and careless, and their lack of diligence leads to their pets multiplying willy-nilly until they can’t handle the situation anymore.
Those two categories are the ones people often quickly associate with tragic hoarding cases. But not everyone who finds themselves in such a scenario is without morals or compassion. Sometimes, despite the best of intentions, things still get out of control, and from the outside it looks the same.
That seems to be the case in a recent rescue that took place in La Vergne, Tennessee, when rescuers were called to help remove over 50 dogs and cats from a property that was beyond dilapidated.
“Happening now: Operation Daylight Save, the emergency rescue of 50+ dogs and cats from La Vergne, TN, a Nashville suburb,” the Animal Rescue Corps posted on Facebook on Sunday. “About 48 dogs and 5 cats have been severely neglected in a hoarding situation.
“Many of the dogs are inhumanely caged, in some cases up to ten dogs in a single, small cage. One dog was dead on ARC’s arrival, killed by her cage-mates with nowhere to escape.”
“We all lost an hour to Daylight Savings last night — but we can’t let these animals lose one more hour or one more life to this house of suffering. Please donate today to help animals like Button, the blind elderdog here who has been made to live alone in a filthy cat carrier, the rest of the dogs and cats, and all of ARC’s work to protect animals.”
According to WSMV-TV, dogs were everywhere on the property: locked up in too-small cages with too many other dogs, running around loose in the squalor inside the trailer home, chained out in the yard, shut up in a shed, and even being held outdoors in a raccoon trap.
The dogs had a myriad of health issues, including expected conditions like parasites, skin inflammation and eye infections, along with hernias, dental disease, and tumors.
“I’m so glad we were able to respond so quickly,” ARC’s Executive Director Tim Woodward said. “These animals were in desperate need and couldn’t wait another day.”
Many were quick to jump onto the post to share how upset they were about the deplorable conditions the animals were found in, and some even wished the same sort of conditions would eventually find the owners, so they would suffer, too.
But a post from Nick Beres with NC5 provided more explanation on the situation that made the incident even more sad.
“These animals and two elderly women were living in this squalor,” he wrote. “They all needed help.
“It is so easy to get angry over such situations. But I’m told the two women — suffering from mental Issues — were as pitiful as the animals. They welcomed ARC and desperately just needed help in a living situation that had spiraled out of control.
“You wonder: Did they not have any family or friends who cared? My hope now is that these two women and the animals all get the help they need. Adult Protective Services has been contacted.”
Because of the circumstances, the case is not considered criminal, and it’s unclear whether or not the women will end up getting the help they need, though the animals will. ARC is searching for any family of the two women, hoping to reconnect them with a network that can support them.
