JUPITER, Fla. – Nearly 40 dogs were rescued from a South Florida home, officials from an animal clinic said.
The dogs were inside a home in Boynton Beach on Florida’s east coast, WPEC reported. The animal hoarding case was reported to Furry Friends Animal Clinic, a nonprofit organization in Jupiter.
Pat Deshong, the president of the organization, said the owner was a woman in her 80s who was unable to care for the animals anymore, the television station reported.
“She probably had a kind heart and just took the dogs into their homes,” Deshong told WPEC. “There’s no way she can properly give attention to 39 dogs at 87-years-old.”
All of the dogs were missing their required shots, and some were suffering some infections and severe skin disease from the filthy conditions in the home, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
“Some of them had fleas, some of them they were just dirty,” Deshong told WPEC. “Scared because they’ve been unsocialized. We’ve just taken them out the only home they’ve known from God knows how long.”
Deshong said the COVID-19 pandemic has made an impact on pets, with several cases of animal hoarding and other instances where owners surrender their pets.
“We’ve seen a rise in owner surrenders. People are losing their jobs, their homes,” Deshong told WPEC. “They just dump the dogs in the streets just let them go, that’s the worst thing that can happen.”
The rescued dogs will be ready for adoption in about a month, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
