PORTAGE COUNTY, Ohio (WOIO/Gray News) - More than 180 animals were rescued in Ohio after they were found struggling in “horrendous living conditions.”
The Portage County Animal Protective League (Portage APL) said 184 animals were saved on June 26.
The rescued animals included:
- 4 horses
- 5 miniature horses
- 1 donkey
- 2 cows
- 4 goats
- 2 sheep
- 11 pigs
- 5 dogs
- 16 cats
- 16 rabbits
- 2 guinea pigs
- 9 turtles
- 2 tortoises
- 1 tegu
- 1 iguana
- 2 geese
- 3 turkeys
- 16 chickens
- 55 chicks
- 1 duck
- 5 parrots
- 5 parakeets
- 2 cockatiels
- 12 finches
- 2 pigeons
“All the animals removed were living in unsanitary, filthy conditions without appropriate food,” Portage APL said. “Many animals were visibly underweight, and some were obviously suffering from injuries and illness.”
One of the cow calves was unable to stand from being so malnourished, according to Portage APL.
Portage APL said there was no food or water inside the home where the cats, dogs, guinea pigs, bunnies, and birds all lived.
A multitude of the caged animals were forced to sit in “large amounts of waste” with empty bowls that should have been filled with food and water, according to the Portage APL.
The floors of the home were also reportedly covered in waste.
Janine Smalley, founder of Whispering Acres Farm Animal Sanctuary, said the discovery is awful.
“It’s absolutely heartbreaking,” she said. “We get them in when they are at their lowest and the people who own them are at their lowest.”
Some of the rescued animals were brought to Whispering Acres. They were all malnourished and dehydrated.
Smalley said it will take at least three months for the animals to recover. For the ones in even worse shape, the recovery time may be even longer.
“It’s very fortunate that they’re alive,” Smalley said. “Some of the ones that we got here are hanging on by a thread, but they are alive and we’re working very hard to keep them going.”
The Portage APL said since the rescue some of the turtles have sadly died.
Whispering Acres took in four goats, two horses and two sheep.
“The horses are very thin, and we’re working on a refeeding program getting them back to where they need to be,” Smalley said. “They’re nutritionally deficient. They were very dehydrated. Three out of the four goats are doing decent. They all have foot scold, hoof rot, loaded with parasites, mange and mites.”
Portage APL said some of the animals were so starved they “resembled skeletons.”
“The horses and goats were so hungry they had eaten the bark off of the trees in the paddock,” Portage APL said.
Funds are needed to help some of the animals recover. Donations can be made to Whispering Acres here.