Animal rescue operators arrested after 150 dogs are found dead with hundreds crammed in cages at centers in Texas, Missouri
A couple has been charged with animal cruelty after authorities came across 150 dead dogs and hundreds more living in squalid conditions at their animal rescue centers in Missouri and Texas.
While 300 or so animals were still alive at Tiffany and Steven Woodington's rescue facilities, authorities said they have no option but to euthanize several of them, USA Today reports.
55-year-old Steven packed 270 dogs in cramped cages in Cameron County, Texas, and they were covered in feces and urine before being moved to his wife Tiffany's property in Brenton County, Missouri.
Sheriff Omar Lucio, who first stumbled upon the Texas facility, described it as the worst case of animal abuse in his 50 years with law enforcement. "The multitude? It's staggering, it's staggering to the imagination," he said.
Around 24 dead animals were discovered on the property located in Los Fresnos, north of Brownsville, police said.
According to Lucio and Cameron County prosecutor Edward Sandoval, authorities received multiple complaints from neighbors about barking dogs, eventually leading them to the embattled animals on September 9.
At least two or three dogs were packed together in each cage, deputies said, and many of them were covered in feces and urine.
Police said more than half of the dogs found in Texas would have to be euthanized, according to their estimate.
Steven Woodington was reportedly transporting the animals to Cole Camp, Missouri, where his wife Tiffany led authorities to an old school bus, a barn, and a house.
Officers with the Benton County Sheriff's Office revealed they found at least 120 dead dogs and a dead cat in "various stages of decay, some were just bones" on September 12.
Some of the animals had died in the same cages, making it even more difficult to get an exact headcount, according to Benton County Sheriff Eric Knox.
Furthermore, they found 38 dogs and another cat "alive but in unimaginable conditions."
A sheriff sergeant wrote in a report that Tiffany Woodington had transported some of the animals to another location in the area after the dogs had died of distemper within a three-day span.
According to the report, Tiffany didn't have an answer when asked why she didn't seek help. All she said was "it just happened so fast."
"It is going to take a long time to rehabilitate these animals," said, Jeane Jae, a spokeswoman for the Humane Society of Missouri, who said the animals that survived were matted and skinny.
Paul Fourt Jr., the lawyer representing Steven Woodington, said his client will plead not guilty to the said charges. "He was at all times trying to rescue and save those animals," according to Fourt, who added that Woodington wanted to send the dogs to shelters in Kansas and Oklahoma for adoption.
Meanwhile, Tiffany has been charged in Missouri with 10 counts of felony animal abuse and two misdemeanor counts of animal abuse.
Steven, who is in Texas, is charged with 19 counts of animal cruelty. A caretaker who worked for him was also charged with animal cruelty.
That said, all three are currently out on bond.