Temperatures were below freezing when our Animal Rescue Team and law enforcement officials met in an Oklahoma parking lot before dawn a few days before the winter holidays. They were preparing for a massive rescue operation. Law enforcement had become concerned about the welfare of the animals during an unrelated visit to the property and requested our team’s expert assistance.
Members of our team distributed hand warmers and nametags, waiting for the signal from officers from the Grady County Sheriff’s Office, who were serving a search and seizure warrant at a residence nearby. This would prove to be one of the strangest animal rescue scenarios our responders had ever faced.
When our rescuers arrived on the scene, they were greeted by shivering dogs chained outdoors with hardly any protection from the elements—only plastic crates and igloos or barrels. The dogs ranged from rottweilers and pit bull-type dogs to English bulldogs, a Great Pyrenees and several shih-tzus. Veterinarians noted that most of the dogs were underweight, with protruding hips and rib bones, and that several had untreated wounds.
