Hoarder Case and Transport

On Thursday, January 14, Best Friends contacted Project Hope to ask for help for a woman in Lexington, MS. The woman reported that she had about 30 dogs that she could no longer feed or care for. Project Hope's Director, Doll contacted a vet friend, Dr. Roberts, who has helped Project Hope on many occasions. Dr. Roberts knew the woman, who we'll call Linda, and Friday, he and Doll went to assess the needs of the dogs.

Linda and her dogs live in a house which is missing the entire north side, exposing every room in the house to the elements. The house is so dilapidated that Linda spends all her time on the porch wrapped in blankets to shield herself from the cold and rain. Considering the state of things, the dogs, all terriers and terrier mixes, were in relative good health. The only real issue with the dogs, aside form there being many more than the original 30 we had expected, is that they tended to be excitable and jumped and fought with each other. The smaller and more timid dogs clearly bore the marks of aggression.

With the direness of the situation Doll decided they had to begin moving the dogs. Since Project Hope was at capacity, the dogs would have to be boarded. Dr. Roberts and Doll loaded up 19 dogs on that initial trip.

Doll made a second trip to Linda’s a few days later. This time she removed 10 puppies and 7 adults. Doll left one mother behind because Linda said she might still have a puppy in the woods. The Cleveland/Bolivar County Animal Shelter stepped up to take these dogs. They were already planning a transport and the rescue group they were working with offered to take this group of dogs.

On Thursday, February 4, Doll went back to remove the dogs that remained. The dogs previously removed had all been spayed/neutered and this group would be spayed/neutered the next morning by Mississippi Spay And Neuter (MS SPAN) using their "Big Fix" mobile clinic. MS SPAN is an organization that provides low-cost spay/neuter across the state.

This bring us up to today, where Chele and Doll are doing a transport to Every Creature Counts (ECC) in Denver. ECC has generously offered to take the remaining dogs from this case. Doll and Chele left Project Hope for Denver earlier today with a whooping 76 animals, including 68 dogs and 8 cats.

This is a case of many folks pulling together to help a woman and her animals in desperate need. Thank you to everyone who made this ending a happy one - Dr. Roberts, Best Friends, MS SPAN, Every Creature Counts, Veterinary Associates and of course Chele for always selflessly offering her time and energy for transports.