Kanawha-Charleston Humane Association along with several law enforcement agencies executed a search warrant and raided the home, taking 56 dogs into the KCHA's care.
The home is in the small town of Liberty, just outside Sissonville.
The property owner, a woman in her 80s, kept dozens of dogs chained to the inside of a crumbling barn. Shafer’s team called the conditions “clear-cut neglect.”
As Kanawha-Charleston Humane Association vets are taking a preliminary look at the animals, they're finding injuries, illness, signs of breeding and pain. KCHA doesn't know how long the dogs were living on the farm, but we know tonight they are safe.
"It's heart-wrenching to see. This is one of those things that we hear about it, but you never really understand the level of neglect until you get here and see it for yourself," Jessie Shafer, Director of Development for KCHA, told 13 News.
Some of the 56 animals were found in fenced areas, others chained to small stalls in several barns on the property.
"Nobody can care for this amount of animals properly. Nobody can meet basic needs of animals when you have this many animals running around. And the fact that they're chained to barn stalls, not able to move freely, not able to drink water," Shafer added.
KCHA isn't sure how long the homeowner has had this many Collies, Australian Shepards, and Black & Tans, or how long they were being mistreated.
"Their water is dirty if there is any. So we don't know whether they have parasitic issues or not. There are various degrees of matting situations that are going on, which can cause skin infections and severe pain," Shafer explained.
No one knew the animals were living on the remote farm until a local came by looking to buy wood from the homeowner.
"As soon as he made his way to the property, he realized there were dozens and dozens of animals in distress. So he reached out to a Humane Officer- which is always the right thing to do. And we took immediate action," Shafer said.
Several goats were found on the property, and also taken into the shelter.
Shafer says the owner signed over 49 dogs to the humane association. The owner refused to surrender ownership of the remaining seven dogs (no mention about the goats). She will have to go to court to fight to get them returned to her. No charges have been filed as of Monday afternoon.
VIDEO NEWS CLIP:
(Tristate Update - Oct 23, 2017)
