Tri-County Animal Rescue Assist 87 Cats and Dogs in Hoarder House Rescue Operation
By: Bryanna Basilio
Boca Raton’s Tri-County Animal Rescue was among twelve rescue groups from all over the U.S. assembled to rescue eighty-seven animals found living in an hoarder house in Vernon, FL. Hoarding Sanitation Cleanup Services have also been called and are scheduled to begin operations as soon as the animals have been removed from the premises safely.
Dubbed the “Great Pyrenees Rescue,” as seventy-two of the animals were Great Pyrenees dogs, the cats and dogs found on breeding site were covered in fleas and feces.
Photo by: Tri-County Animal Rescue
The number of Great Pyrenees had grown exponentially due to none of the dogs being spayed or neutered.
“It’s a sad situation” said Tri-County Animal Rescue Event and Volunteer Coordinator, Pam Dubois. “That’s why it’s so important for people to be enlightened that how important it is to spay and neuter your pet.”
The 35-acre property had belonged to a wheelchair bound older woman, who had passed away leaving the dozens of animals neglected.
The fight for food was prevalent as dominant males would sleep in the tubs of foods so other dogs couldn’t eat. Many dogs were found with broken and missing teeth from eating rocks. They all had skin, eye, and ear infections, accompanied by intestinal parasites.
The refuge that had received a tip of the owner’s passing was The Alaqua Animal Refuge, who were stunned when by the number of cats and dogs living the decrypted hoarder house. The drastic case required more hands.
Alaqua was joined by 12 rescue groups including Tri-County Humane and other organizations from the Northeast and Southeast U.S. They thanked the following organizations:
Tri-County Humane
Saving the Pyreenees. Photo by: Tri-County Animal Rescue
Tallahassee Big Dog Rescue
Leon County Humane Society
Big Bend Disaster Animal Response Team
The Humane Society of the United States
Great Pyrenees Club of America
Big Fluffy Dog Rescue
Florida State Animal Response Coalition
The Lucky Puppy Rescue
Great Pyrenees Club of Western Pennsylvania Rescue
Pittsburgh Aviation Animal Rescue Team
Florida Great Pyrenees Rescue & Club
The number of organizations participating is not surprising when considering the total cost of the rescue and treatments are anywhere from $500-$10,000.
“We took in 6 females ages 3-10,” said Dubois. “They all have numerous health problems and we have nursed them back to health so they may find a good home.”
The Great Pyrenees did not have to wait long at the Tri-County shelter, as 3 have already found a new home. Of course, it was not without being spayed first.
Photo by: Tri-County Animal Rescue
“When you see something, ‘oh I wanna breed it, I want them to have puppies,’ no, there’s too many animals unwanted that get euthanized every day at kill shelters,” Dubois explained the reason for always spaying and neutering before their pets can go home with anyone.
Interesting enough, kill-shelters are the animal organizations that are getting money from the state.
“You go down to Miami and the facility down there is state-of-the-art and beautiful. They are killing dogs. Here, we’re saving lives and we just have to take little bits of money and put it together to do big things.”
The Tri-County Animal Rescue is a 100% No-Kill, non profit animal shelter that has prevented the killing of over 170,000 unwanted pets all over South Florida. Since 1996, they have saved over 55,000 domestic animals from being euthanized.
“We save as many lives as we can, but we can only take in so many. Because we are a non-profit, we purely rely on donations.”
Hurricane Irma damage to Tri-County facility
Hurricane Irma did no favors for the rescue as it, “Destroyed the roof and flooded the inside of our sanctuary house, tore down our surrounding trees and fences, and animals had to be evacuated to the main building,” said Dubois.
Tri-County is still in need of bags of concrete, fencing, and fence poles.
At the Tri-County Animal Rescue, staff and volunteers continue to work to rehabilitate potential pets and heal ailments so they may be adopted, all this while maintaining a happy, clean, playful, and comfortable environment for the animals. Recently, over 50 cats and dogs have been rescued from Puerto Rico following Irma and are now in the shelter’s custody as more are expected to arrive. Tri-county loves new volunteers who may walk dogs, maintain the cat room, or help at events.
As Tri-County Animal Rescue’s motto’s implies, “Who rescued who?”
