On Monday I told you about our first emergency response of the New Year, breaking up a large-scale cockfighting operation in Texas, with 176 people arrested and 118 birds seized. Today, I report on our Emergency Services team's latest intervention to come to the aid of animals in distress.

Teaming up with Greene County Animal Control, on Tuesday we rescued more than 70 animals from inhumane and unsanitary conditions on a Walstonburg, N.C. farm that more closely resembled a trash dump. Local animal control agencies asked us to help after they got a sense of the scale of neglect. In our video report about the operation, which you can see here, Randy Hawkins of Greene County Animal Control says, “With the amount of animals and the different types of animals that we had, there’s no way that we could have done it with just the manpower that we have working in our county, plus we don’t have the resources.”

In all, there were 31 pigs, 28 chickens, 6 geese, 4 turkeys, 3 horses and 2 goats rescued from junkyard-like surroundings, where they'd been living amongst broken glass, rusty wire and auto parts, and other dangerous materials. The pigs were in mud up to their armpits, with one sow actually frozen into the muck. The fowl were underweight, and several dead piglets and goats made for a somber discovery.

Transported to an emergency shelter, the animals are now resting comfortably and receiving veterinary care. Once custody is determined, we plan to place them with sanctuaries. Below are just a few photos from the rescue—you can see a slideshow of more images on humanesociety.org.

 

 

 

Photos credit Kathy Milani/The HSUS