Animal Cruelty Investigators partner with Pasadena Animal Shelter to bring these dogs a better life

PASADENA, Texas — Houston SPCA Animal Cruelty Investigators rescued 82 animals from two separate hoarding situations across the greater Houston area in less than 24 hours this week, according to the Houston SPCA. The unrelated cases in Pasadena and Tomball involved dozens of dogs and cats living in deplorable conditions.

The most recent rescue occurred Wednesday morning in Pasadena’s Red Bluff Terrace neighborhood, where Houston SPCA investigators working with Pasadena Animal Control discovered 70 small, emaciated dogs and one bird at a residence. The Houston SPCA reported that the interior of the home was heavily contaminated with feces and urine and cluttered with extensive debris throughout the property.

All 71 animals from the Pasadena location were safely removed and are now receiving comprehensive medical evaluations and individualized treatment at the Houston SPCA, the organization said.

Less than 24 hours earlier, on Tuesday, Houston SPCA Animal Cruelty Investigators partnered with Harris County Constable Precinct 1 to respond to another hoarding case at a property in Tomball near Sorrel Meadows Drive. Inside that home, investigators found nine cats confined in urine- and feces-covered wire kennels stacked three high throughout the residence without adequate food, water, or sanitation, according to the Houston SPCA.

The Tomball case also yielded tragic discoveries, with six deceased cats found around the property, according to the Houston SPCA. Two dogs kept in filthy wire kennels were also rescued from inside the home, the Houston SPCA reported. All surviving animals from the Tomball location are receiving medical treatment at the Houston SPCA’s Animal Hospital.

“We share these types of cruelty cases because they are a powerful reminder of how we rely on the community to report animal neglect and abuse, so we can respond swiftly when animals are in distress,” said Travis Crisman, vice president of shelter services at the Houston SPCA. “A phone call or online report can be the difference between suffering and safety for countless animals. Speaking up truly saves lives.”

OGDEN — Body cam video released Thursday shows police officers serving a search warrant at the Ogden home of a man accused of hoarding 168 animals.

Police served the search warrant at the home in April after receiving reports about the conditions there.

The video shows a home crawling with animals, including chihuahuas and similar mixed-breed dogs. Ogden officials said that, in all, there were 157 dogs and 11 cats.

In the body cam video, officers said they had to mask up because the smell was so bad.

Ogden City said that in addition to the more than 600 charges against Miguel Salgado-Vargas, his nephew, Ramon Aispuro, is also facing more than 300 charges because he lived in the home as well and was involved in the care and treatment of the animals.

This wasn’t the first time Ogden police were called

The April 16 visit wasn’t the first time police visited Salgado-Varga.

As KSL TV reported, nearly 150 dogs were found and rescued from Salgado-Vargas’s home in 2012.

The dogs were discovered on April 15, after police received a report of possible neglect. Salgado-Vargas and his nephew Ramon Aispuro were charged this week with hundreds of cases of animal neglect, public nuisance, failure to vaccinate for rabies, and maintaining unlicensed animals.

The city of Ogden said Thursday that none of the dogs had to be euthanized. However, on Wednesday, one of the dogs removed from the Ogden home died in the care of a foster owner. The foster parent said the dog died from complications after getting spayed. This is the first known case of one of the Ogden dogs dying.

In the days and weeks after April 15, animal welfare agencies reported a strong community interest in adopting the animals, all of which are small mixed breeds.

By the end of April, most of the dogs were reported to have been adopted or placed in foster care. Ogden city said, as of Thursday, only 13 dogs remained at the Weber County Animal Shelter available for rescue.

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OGDEN — After 156 dogs were rescued from terrible conditions inside an Ogden home on Tuesday, veterinarians are getting some answers about what health problems the dogs are facing.

A team with Best Friends Animal Society thoroughly examined and vaccinated around 30 to 40 of them.

Veterinary programs assistant Finn Drew said the sheer number of dogs involved in this case makes it a more difficult situation. He said the other dogs have been sent to shelters across the Wasatch Front.

“We’ve seen a lot with some overbites, a little bit of some skin issues … it looks like they might have gotten bitten on the ear,” Drew said.

He said some are showing signs of neglect.

“A couple of them are a little bit underweight — could put some meat on their bones,” Drew said.

A team of vet technicians examined their faces, skin, eyes, ears and bodies. They also vaccinated the animals.

“Especially in an environment where there are that many dogs together, things can spread very easily,” Drew said. “We’re pretty fortunate that it doesn’t seem like any of these guys have come down with any of those diseases.”

He said the dogs appear to be chihuahua and terrier mixes, ranging from a few months to around eight years old.

“None of them seem to have any immediate medical issues that would warrant them not being able to be adopted at some point in the future,” Drew said.

He said some are far more socialized than others.

“They freak out once we get the leash on them, but they’re still used to being carried around and having people around, and they can definitely be a little bit averse to human touch,” he said.

Drew said the time it takes a dog to heal from a situation like this varies.

“I’ve seen some older dogs that just need to have a little bit of space and they decompress within like a couple of weeks,” he said. “And yet there can also be some younger ones that end up taking longer.”

He said shelters will need foster homes soon.

“Some of them in there that were super, super excited to get some human attention and others that you can tell it’ll probably take a few weeks to potentially a few months for them to fully come out of their shell once they’re out of the hoarding environment,” Drew said.

He said it’s also helpful to volunteer and help some of these dogs who really need time socializing.

“They can see about donating any supplies these guys might need, like food or blankets, even just coming into the shelter and giving them some socialization time so that they can get used to meeting with people would be super,” Drew said.

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PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) – More than 100 dogs were rescued from one home in Parkersburg.

The Humane Society of Parkersburg (HSOP) rescued 146 dogs from a single location late Wednesday afternoon.

Samantha Tannous, the shelter manager, said a tip came in from a neighboring resident, who notified them that there were around 10 chihuahuas inside the house.

“Our humane officers went there, and just from the looks and feces that was present, we knew there was probably more than 10,” Tannous said. “We were not expecting 146.”

The number of dogs came as a surprise to the humane society.

“Things just got out of hand,” said executive director Gary McIntyre. “The dogs, unfortunately, were not spayed or neutered, and because of that, they just continued to have litters of dogs, and then each new litter began to have additional litters.”

Volunteer Dreama Alderman said this has never happened before.

“I’ve been volunteering for years, for so many years, and they have had cases like this, but none like this one,” Alderman said. “This is the biggest.”

McIntyre added saying he is thankful for the support from the community with the donations and help at the shelter.

“I have to say the community has been extremely supportive of everything that we have been doing,” McIntire said, “Yesterday, we sent out a post fairly quickly that we needed metal crates. We knew with the number of dogs is increasing. It seemed like about every 30 minutes the number got higher and higher because initially we thought we were talking about 30 dogs.”

The Parkersburg Police Department has been notified about the situation.

HSOP staff are now in the process of taking care of the newly arrived dogs at the shelter.

“They’re all here at the shelter right now, while some are in foster homes,” Tannous said. “Right now, we’re just in the process of getting them cleaned up, getting them vaccinated, and their nails trimmed. That’s what we’re working with.”

HSOP is still looking for certain items to help with the influx of these dogs.

These items are in need by the HSOP for the newly arrived dogs. (Shyla Florence)

For more information about the HSOP, you can click here.

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