Animals Left To Starve
October 2002
23 live cats and four dead dogs found caged in vacated house.
Fort Worth, Texas, USA - A landlord and Humane Society investigator checking an abandoned rental house discovered four dead dogs and 23 malnourished cats crammed into pet carriers.
"It was a mass of little eyeballs looking at you through the bars of the cage door," said Jamey Cantrell, operations director of the Humane Society of North Texas. "They were very distressed."
Neighbours of the house in the 4100 block of Collin Street had told landlord Jack Killion that they had not seen the tenants for four days. Aware that his tenants had pets, Killion asked Humane Society staffers to accompany him to check on the home.
Inside, Cantrell said, they found 12 cats stuffed into one cat carrier and 11 cats crammed into another. The carriers are made to hold one animal.
In another carrier, made for a large dog, four dogs were packed, Cantrell said. All were dead.
Roaming the trashed house was a male dog and a mother dog with a litter of 10 puppies. Cantrell said there was no food or water available for the animals.
"You can't call this anything other than intentional cruelty," Cantrell said. "I'm honestly surprised that more of them were not dead."
Killion said he believes that the couple had been homeless before moving into the southeast Fort Worth rental house a little more than a year ago. He was in the process of seeking their eviction for nonpayment of rent when he noticed several days ago that the home appeared to be abandoned.
Killion said he had heard two dogs and once seen a cat sitting on a windowsill but never imagined what he would find inside.
"At least one pet carrier was full of cats and the door was closed. They couldn't get out," Killion said. "It appeared to me that they couldn't even lie down."
In another cage, Killion said he spotted a dead dog half in and half out of a carrier filled with other dead or dying dogs.
"It was a sorry thing to see," Killion said. "One has to wonder what people were thinking or if they were thinking."
The Humane Society will work with the Fort Worth police to find the former tenants, who could face charges of cruelty to animals, a state-jail felony, Cantrell said.
The surviving dogs were placed in foster care until they can be nursed back to health and put up for adoption. The cats, which included eight kittens about 8 weeks old, were evaluated by a veterinarian.
"They're underweight, they're malnourished and dehydrated," Cantrell said. "There were a few kittens suffering from upper respiration infections, but for the most part, we're hoping they're all going to be OK."
"We're very hopeful that within a couple of days some of the stronger ones will be able to go up for adoption."
Humane Society
Anyone interested in adopting the animals can visit the shelter at 1840 E. Lancaster Ave. between noon and 5 p.m.
Anyone wishing to help with donations can send them to the shelter or through the nonprofit organization's Web site, at www.hsnt.net.
******************************
I found this on another site, and I really don't understand how anyone could intentionally do something this cruel!!!
I hope they will be able to place all the surviving animals in good, loving homes!
October 2002
23 live cats and four dead dogs found caged in vacated house.
Fort Worth, Texas, USA - A landlord and Humane Society investigator checking an abandoned rental house discovered four dead dogs and 23 malnourished cats crammed into pet carriers.
"It was a mass of little eyeballs looking at you through the bars of the cage door," said Jamey Cantrell, operations director of the Humane Society of North Texas. "They were very distressed."
Neighbours of the house in the 4100 block of Collin Street had told landlord Jack Killion that they had not seen the tenants for four days. Aware that his tenants had pets, Killion asked Humane Society staffers to accompany him to check on the home.
Inside, Cantrell said, they found 12 cats stuffed into one cat carrier and 11 cats crammed into another. The carriers are made to hold one animal.
In another carrier, made for a large dog, four dogs were packed, Cantrell said. All were dead.
Roaming the trashed house was a male dog and a mother dog with a litter of 10 puppies. Cantrell said there was no food or water available for the animals.
"You can't call this anything other than intentional cruelty," Cantrell said. "I'm honestly surprised that more of them were not dead."
Killion said he believes that the couple had been homeless before moving into the southeast Fort Worth rental house a little more than a year ago. He was in the process of seeking their eviction for nonpayment of rent when he noticed several days ago that the home appeared to be abandoned.
Killion said he had heard two dogs and once seen a cat sitting on a windowsill but never imagined what he would find inside.
"At least one pet carrier was full of cats and the door was closed. They couldn't get out," Killion said. "It appeared to me that they couldn't even lie down."
In another cage, Killion said he spotted a dead dog half in and half out of a carrier filled with other dead or dying dogs.
"It was a sorry thing to see," Killion said. "One has to wonder what people were thinking or if they were thinking."
The Humane Society will work with the Fort Worth police to find the former tenants, who could face charges of cruelty to animals, a state-jail felony, Cantrell said.
The surviving dogs were placed in foster care until they can be nursed back to health and put up for adoption. The cats, which included eight kittens about 8 weeks old, were evaluated by a veterinarian.
"They're underweight, they're malnourished and dehydrated," Cantrell said. "There were a few kittens suffering from upper respiration infections, but for the most part, we're hoping they're all going to be OK."
"We're very hopeful that within a couple of days some of the stronger ones will be able to go up for adoption."
Humane Society
Anyone interested in adopting the animals can visit the shelter at 1840 E. Lancaster Ave. between noon and 5 p.m.
Anyone wishing to help with donations can send them to the shelter or through the nonprofit organization's Web site, at www.hsnt.net.
******************************
I found this on another site, and I really don't understand how anyone could intentionally do something this cruel!!!
