# 261 dogs taken from Mid-Florida Rescue



## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

From Tampa Bay Online:

"Polk County Sherrif's Office confiscated 261 dogs ... " from the Mid-Florida Retriever Rescue. 

The article states the dogs were "... found extremely underweight and with visible ribs, pellvic bones, and vertebrae." 

Later it says, "The home had a strong smell of urine and feces. Deputies had to wear gas masks while removing dogs."

The A/C veterinarian found the dogs "... to be malnourished and flea-infested. The dogs also had parasites and tartar on their teeth."

261 dogs confiscated from Polk rescue organization


----------



## Mrs.K (Jul 14, 2009)

So sad... I am sure they had the best intentions and it probably went completely out of control...


----------



## APBTLove (Feb 23, 2009)

Yeah, that's disgusting. It might have started with the best intentions, but you have to be sick in the head not to realize you are slowly killing the dogs because you won't euthanize and don't know when to stop taking them in.


----------



## Asche-zu-Staub (Apr 25, 2010)

WOW. and the irony with the home inspection thing....they knew what they were doing was wrong. They werent a no-kill, they were a slow-kill organizeation. I wonder how many dogs died under their care....look at the last lab...


----------



## patrons_haus (May 17, 2010)

I saw this on the local news, how sad.

How could they be a rescue org when they didn't even spay/neuter the animals? 

261 animals is way to much for a couple to handle.


----------



## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

patrons_haus said:


> 261 animals is way to much for a couple to handle.


IMO 8 dogs is too much for one couple to handle so I cannot even imagine 261 :crazy:


----------



## Holmeshx2 (Apr 25, 2010)

Ok this story just stinks all the way around. Personally, I don't see any reason why any of the dogs needed to be euthanized even the vet said they were all good just needed to be plumped up and then adopted out.

Rescue work is a labor of love and never ending anyone that has ever done it can tell you all about it. When we were a foster there were never enough foster homes and many of the dogs we took in looked like those dogs especially the last lab so quite honestly we don't know how long some of them were under these peoples care so you can't immediately blame them for the weight of the dogs if they just got them because there are plenty of rescue pups that come in like that and worse.

IMO I think the media is just wrong here, it's a bad enough story for all involved and to feel the need to put stupid things in the article just to "beef" it up some to sound worse is just irritating and uncalled for. "The dogs also had fleas and tartar on their teeth" I have rarely seen a dog without tartar quite honestly especially a rescue and a very very large majority of rescues came in with fleas they always got an instant flea bath outside before touching the inside of my house for this very reason.

I definitely agree with the decision to remove the animals from the home even if they were in great shape 261 dogs in a single home with 2 people is just impossible to even meet the bare minimum of what is needed for a well adjusted dog let alone a dog that needs special attention like a rescue. Not to mention these were all large dogs from the description. Do I believe they should be in jail? Well maybe not quite yet I do not know if they are the reason for the animals being thin as I said so many come in like that from their previous "homes", they did not have some of the animals fixed and as a rescue they should have had them fixed or had vet proof to show why the animals were not fixed yet. Also, as a rescue there should be vet proof showing the weight of the animal to see if the animal came in severely underweight or became that way after being under their care. 

The house was HORRIBLE yes but honestly what do you expect in a single family home with 261 dogs of any size? Personally without knowing all the facts and ignoring the weight issue because we don't have the facts and it is very common in rescue I don't think this was malicious. I think it is a case of someone using their hearts way more then their heads. They just couldn't say no and took on way more then they could handle and it turned disasterous. The same thing happens with hoarders and people call it a mental illness and normally do not press charges, from the neighbors statement, the fact they've been doing it over 5 years with no complaints until now, and other things I really feel it's just a really poorly handled case but yes without a doubt the animals should have been removed immediately because it was a very poor environment for them and quite honestly for the people too for them to be living in those conditions.


----------

