MIAMI – Almost half of the 81 dogs found on a property in southwest Miami-Dade County Tuesday got a new chance at life Wednesday.
Cleaned and cared for, the precious puppies are half way to getting a permanent home.
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Bathed and in clean cages with fresh food and water, they have come a long way from the filth they were living in. The dogs were living in cramped cages filled with urine and feces on the property of a mother and daughter in Homestead. The two must have known Miami-Dade Animals Services was about to raid the home, because they had loaded many of them into a rental truck so they could be moved. Thankfully, they were rescued.
Not only was the Humane Society of Greater Miami able to take 26 dogs, but the Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League took in 11 more. So already almost half of the dogs are on their way to being processed and hopefully adopted."
"When they came in they were all very stressed, very dirty and confused," said Laurie Hoffman of the Humane Society of Greater Miami. "They did not know what was going on. They were not emaciated like in some other hoarding cases. There are little Rat Terrier mixes. We have some Dachshunds, a Schnauzer, a Boxer. We have some very highly adoptable animals."
The healthier dogs will be available for adoption once they are spayed or neutered and chipped. That should take about 7 to 14 days. Until then, they will remain in a special quarantine center.
"It is a total quarantine and intake building so that if any of these dogs are harboring any diseases -- and some of them do have upper respiratory -- they don't infect any of the animals we have available for adoption," Hoffman said.
Meanwhile, the two women who were hoarding the dogs will be checked on because they were allowed to keep eight dogs.
"Charges are pending," said Luis Salgado of Miami-Dade Animal Services. "We are still finishing up all the veterinary evaluations of the health conditions of the dogs. We could either go civil with this or criminal depending on our end results of our investigation."