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UPPER FREEHOLD: 16 dogs, some starving, rescued from home

By Jane Meggitt, Special Writer
   UPPER FREEHOLD — A Voorhees-based animal rescue group has removed 16 dogs, five of them starving, from a home in the Cream Ridge section of the township earlier this month and is seeking donations to help pay for their care.
   The Animal Welfare Association said it was notified about the situation from another animal rescue organization Jan. 3 and sent volunteers the following day to the home.
   ”The owner surrendered the dogs to us,” said AWA Executive Director Maya Richmond, who refused to reveal the name of the dogs’ owner, who had fallen on difficult financial times and could not afford to feed them regularly.
   ”The family became very overwhelmed, unable to afford veterinary care and, eventually, lost their home,” Ms. Richmond said. “They told us they tried to find homes for many of the puppies and dogs over the years as the dogs mated. And they also tried to reach out to area agencies for help, to surrender their dogs, but were unable to pay an ‘owner surrender’ fee.”
   The AWA kept six of the rescued dogs, which were between 1 and 12 years old, and another animal rescue group took the younger puppies. Five of the six dogs the AWA brought to its shelter were starving, and one has since died.
   ”One did not make it; he was ill, and the lab results indicated possible acute liver disease,” Ms. Richmond said.
   Ms. Richmond said the dogs all received immediate medical care and fluids and were started on a food program to help them gain weight. The older dogs, Scooby and Speedy, had been in the worst shape.
   ”The owner put down food, and the dogs all had to try to eat from one or two bowls,” she said. “The ones that were more successful — the younger ones — were in better shape, less emaciated than the older ones.”
   A veterinarian exam revealed the dogs were suffering from long-term starvation and were dehydrated. They also had worms, mange and fleas. The dogs should have weighed about 45 pounds, but some weighed only 30 pounds.
   An AWA news release said the dogs’ ages and the fact not one was spayed or neutered means many of the animals are probably siblings. Ms. Richmond said none previously had ever been seen by a veterinarian, walked on a leash, been let out of the yard or taken for a ride in a car.
   Three of the five Cream Ridge dogs in the AWA shelter have since been adopted, including Speedy, who was featured in a recent Philadelphia TV newscast and has since found a loving new home.
   ”His new owner waited for him to be available for adoption and was at our door the moment he was made available,” Ms. Richmond said. “Per our Facebook posts, Speedy is in a home, slowly gaining weight and so comfortable.”
   Ms. Richmond said the AWA has been seeing more and more cases like this because of the difficult economy.
   ”We know people are struggling to make ends meet. When we began offering affordable wellness care at our weekly clinics, we had around 1,000 people come in 2008,” Ms. Richmond said. “In 2012, we provided services, like shots, exams and tests to over 4,500 pets.”
   Ms. Richmond noted the Cream Ridge case is an example of what can happen when pets are not spayed or neutered and breed in the home. It is not always possible to find homes for the new puppies, and soon the number of pets in the home becomes unmanageable.
   ”Then they become ill, and over time, their health declines so much that people become embarrassed to seek help,” Ms. Richmond said. “The owner in this case shared she did ask to surrender a few dogs to other rescues/shelters, but didn’t have the ‘intake fee,’ and that was difficult for her.”
   Ms. Richmond stressed that basic preventative care is very important as once a pet becomes ill, it is even more difficult to afford care to get the animal better. She suggested pet owners take advantage of free vaccine clinics offered by municipalities and work out payment plans with veterinarians.
   ”Ask what you can get done at one time and what you may be able to wait on. If you have family or friends that you can split some cost with, that helps,” she said. “Often, we find that people can’t afford a full package of three or five heartworm prevention pills or flea/tick medications, but they can afford one month.”
    Upper Freehold Township administrator Dianne Kelly said last week that she was unaware of this case until a reporter told her about it.
   The Cream Ridge dogs apparently had been unlicensed, she said, and noted anyone keeping 16 dogs also is required to have a kennel license, which the unidentified residents in this case apparently didn’t have, either.
   For information about adoption or donating to the Animal Welfare Association, visit www.awanj.org.