Central Florida animal rescues take in 85 dogs from single home
LAKE COUNTY, Fla. —
Lake County Animal Services took in 85 dogs and 14 horses from a property in Groveland earlier this week.
“As far as the dogs go, this was record-breaking,” said Whitney Boylston, director of the office of animal services for Lake County.
Boylston explained that handling such a large number of animals in a single day was a significant challenge for her staff.
“85 in a single day is a lot for our staff to handle when you consider that every one of those dogs has to have admissions processing,” she said.
The team set up an assembly line to ensure each dog received a veterinary exam, vaccinations, photographs, and more. The process took about five hours.
Some of the dogs were in normal condition while others suffered from dermatitis or hair loss.
“The horses, some of them are severely underweight, as well as the dogs,” Boylston said.
The county had to create a temporary off-site shelter to accommodate the influx of animals. By noon Thursday, all but one dog had been sent to other shelters.
Seventeen went to Poodle and Pooch. Forty of the dogs were sent to Pet Alliance, according to Kenny Tallier of the organization.
“Twenty of them came to the shelter here in Orlando, and the other 20 went to our Sanford location,” Tallier said.
The rescued rat terrier mixes have received vaccinations but still require things such as heartworm tests and microchipping before they can be adopted.
“At least a week before these guys will be available for adoption,” Tallier said.
In the meantime, Tallier encouraged people to donate bath towels and puppy pads to help care for the animals. Once they’re ready to be adopted, you’ll be able to find the dogs on the shelter’s website.
“This is what we’re here for. We want to find them good forever homes and, you know, take them out of the bad conditions they were in and let them know it’s time to be spoiled and loved,” he said.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said the situation the dogs and horses came from is currently under investigation.