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Bates County (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) — For the third time in eight years, sick and neglected animals were rescued Friday from a property in Bates County in western Missouri.
The property owner agreed to voluntarily surrender 21 dogs and 20 cats to the Humane Society of Missouri, according to a press release by the society’s Animal Cruelty Task Force.
The animals “were living inside a waste-filled, trash-strewn, dilapidated small house,” the press released said. “Many were in crates with multiple layers of feces- and urine-saturated newspaper.”
Crates with animals were stacked on top of each other. Some single-animal crates contained two of more animals. The property had no running water, and the animals had no food. Two cats in a crate outside were close to death, officials stated. Others were sick, suffering from infections, infested with parasites and have overgrown nails.
The Bates County Sheriff’s Office arrested the owner Thursday on charges stemming from the seizure of more than 100 dogs and cats in December 2017, the press release stated. In 2011, the humane society rescued more than 50 dogs from the same property.
“It is deeply troubling this person did not heed the warnings or get the help she needed and that this problem occurred yet again,” stated Kathy Warnick, president of the Humane Society of Missouri. “As is typical in hoarding situations, persons allowed to continue to own animals often continue to collect them. The only way to protect animals from these horrific, dangerous conditions in the future is to prevent this person from possessing additional animals.”
The animals have been transported to the humane society’s headquarters in St. Louis, where they will receive veterinary care and shelter with the goal of making as many as possible available for adoption.
Some of the animals could be missing pets from the area, according to a post on the Facebook page for the Bates County Sheriff’s Office.
Bates County Sheriff Chad Anderson stated: “I have been reassured that if one of these animals are identified as a missing loved pet that they will assist with getting the animal back to the owner. That may include arranging to get the animal back. Even if we have to go to St. Louis to help return the identified animals, we will do that. Our priority in these cases is to rescue the animals and returning them to the owner if we can identify them.”
He also stated in the post, “I am confident that working with our court system we will be able to get the suspect the help she needs this time.”
To help the animals recover, the humane society is asking for donations of dog and cat toys, long-cut shredded paper, newspapers, towels, blankets and sheets. Donations can be brought to the adoption center at 1201 Macklind Avenue.