The emergency rescue of 44 dogs in a large-scale neglect and hoarding case.

 Animal Rescue Corps is responding to an urgent request for assistance from Casey County, KY, law enforcement and concerned citizens for a severe neglect case that was uncovered after the tenant was hospitalized.

Details:

  • Operation: Frozen Sorrows
  • Situation: Hoarding, Severe Neglect
  • Location: Casey County, KY
  • Number of Dogs: 44
  • Urgency: Critical

This heartbreaking situation unfolded when the tenant was rushed to the ICU. What was discovered at their property is a horror scene – 40+ neglected dogs living in heartrending conditions inside and outside of a partially burnt house that the tenant shared with the dogs and four young children.

The tenant on this property has been running a purported “rescue.” The abysmal conditions witnessed at this “rescue” have been going on for a prolonged period of time. The very place meant to provide solace to these dogs failed to uphold basic principles of care and compassion for these animals, instead becoming a source of their suffering. These dogs deserve so much better.

Some of the dogs are kept indoors in small, often broken cages and travel crates. Others are in freezing cold pens outside with little or no shelter. The property is marred with the remains of long-deceased dogs, both inside and outside.

It’s so cold that even inside, you can see your breath.

Large-Scale Neglect -- a filthy room with a brindle dog; it's so cold you can see the dog's breath inside.

Daisy is just one of the many dogs on site. She is an elder dog, left in a filthy blue bin, unable to stand. Her paws have untreated necrotic tissue and require immediate treatment. Sitting in her own waste as she has been, she is at high risk of what could be life-threatening infections.

Daisy, an elder tan dog, one of the 44 dogs living in this large-scale neglect and hoarding case.


Daisy’s paws, above.


Two of the multiple deceased dogs found inside and outside on the property.

Casey County, KY, has no animal shelter. There is nowhere here for 44 dogs to find refuge all at once, let alone 44 dogs who have been victims of severe, prolonged, and large-scale neglect. There are simply no resources that can help the local community save these animals.

But situations like this are why ARC exists.

Animal Rescue Corps exists to help in situations of large-scale neglect and cruelty just like this one. Thanks to caring donors and volunteers who power this work, and the compassionate citizens and law enforcement who reached out for help, ARC is a lifeline for animals like the dogs of Operation Frozen Sorrows.

New Beginnings and Healing

Each and every dog is carefully extracted and provided with a veterinary assessment on-site. Next is an hour-long transport over icy roads to ARC’s flagship Rescue Center outside Nashville, TN. The Rescue Center is a facility dedicated to the intake and rehabilitation of animal victims of human cruelty and abuse.

At the Rescue Center, these dogs will receive urgent medical, physical, and social care from ARC. They will begin to regain their health and joy. As they are ready, ARC’s team will match each dog individually with a carefully vetted shelter or rescue in a high-adoption region. ARC will transport them as far as they need to go to get to their next chapter with an excellent placement partner. ARC and our partners won’t stop until every dog finds the loving home they have always deserved. 

With your help, their new lives begin now.

If you are in a position to help today with a donation to support ARC’s work, please do. Every donation makes a difference for a dog like Daisy, who has endured so much suffering and now has an opportunity for a second chance.

And, if you are in a position to volunteer, please sign up today. Opportunities are always available in ARC’s Rescue Center outside Nashville, TN, as well as sometimes nationally and beyond. We sometimes offer travel stipends.