HSUS Steps Up and Seeks Help for 200 Dogs Seized from Fighting Operation

On September 8, the Humane Society of the United States sent out an urgent plea to its HSUS Emergency Services Placement Partners. HSUS had rescued 200 dogs from a Jefferson County, Ohio property. The owner surrendered them because of allegations of dog fighting and other acts of cruelty. HSUS is looking for rescues and shelters to step up and help find homes for the victims.

According to the email, the dogs range from 6-month-old puppies to senior citizens, and come in all colors and varieties. Each of the dogs has been vetted, vaccinated, dewormed, and microchipped. HSUS is also giving each dog a professional evaluation score and will share any and all information it has about the dog. The evaluations reveal a wide range of personality types, indicating that many of the pit bull-type dogs are ready for immediate placement as family pets. Some are more appropriate as service dogs, and some more appropriate for sanctuary placement.

This earnest plea represents a remarkable change in HSUS policy since 2009. In February 2009, HSUS representatives testified in court that all the dogs and puppies seized in a fight bust in Wilkes County, N.C. should be euthanized.  Best Friends Animal Society hired an attorney to try to get an injunction to stop the euthanasia, but it was too late. What transpired was a massacre, with puppies being taken from loving foster-care homes and killed. Rescuers were in tears because they had seen how well the pit bulls seized in the Michael Vick case were doing and believed all dogs seized in cruelty cases should be evaluated and given a chance for a happy home. To remember the Wilkes County puppies and dogs and to protest the judge's decision, a candlelight vigil was held in front of the courthouse.

In the wake of the Wilkes County debacle, national organizations (including Best Friends Animal Society, the ASPCA, Maddie's Fund, the National Animal Control Association, and Bad Rap) met at the invitation of HSUS to discuss appropriate policies for pit bulls seized from fighting operations. It was unanimously decided that all dogs seized from any cruelty case, including fight busts, be evaluated individually and treated humanely.

HSUS is to be commended for embracing the new policy. It is actively seeking homes, rescues, sanctuaries, and shelters for victims of cruelty, whereas PETA still holds on to the archaic belief that all dogs seized from fight busts should be killed.

Let's do HSUS a solid and help them help these dogs. If you can help by taking one or more of these special rescued victims, please have your local shelter indicate that it is interested in applying to help these Ohio rescue dogs by filling out an Emergency Services Placement Partner application immediately.

Thanks to HSUS and especially to Chris Schindler, Manager of Animal Fighting Law Enforcement for the HSUS, for reaching out for help for these special victims.

Organizations interested in helping one or more of these dogs should contact Inga Fricke at ifricke@humanesociety.org.

Photo Credit: Ohio dog by HSUS