How do I report suspected animal cruelty?
My aunt has been running a dog breeding business for several years from her home (she lives in a rural area), and until I started going to visit, I thought she were doing it properly. I have visited from out-of-state several times, and witnessed something that I believe to be ongoing animal cruelty.
My aunt has a small building behind her house and in it, she keeps several small to medium sized dogs in small cages, barely big enough for the dog to turn around in. She allows these dogs out only a few minutes each day while she cleans the cages. I asked her why she doesn’t let them out for longer periods but she says she has no one to help her watch after all the dogs she has, so she can’t. She claims they’re all “rescues” and are lucky to have a safe place where they get fed every day. Frankly, I think she’s become some kind of hoarder and it’s making the animals she “rescues” suffer.
The dogs she uses for breeding are kept in almost as dismal conditions. She keeps five or six larger dogs in outside pens, but the pens are still too small (in my opinion) for that many dogs, and she constantly has to break up fights. She has several of these pens, but like the dogs inside the building, she NEVER allows them out of those pens for any sort of exercise.
She has had county animal control come to her house several times over the years, called by neighbors who complain about the noise and odor. According to her, she hasn’t so much as been given any kind of warning. According to HER, all they do is come out, talk to her, look at her record-keeping and that’s it. I do not understand how anyone concerned with animal welfare can look at her set-up and not reach the conclusion that she’s engaging in cruel treatment of those dogs.
I suspect no one from the county has ever gone inside her building to see how she keeps the dogs in there -- or if they do, she lies to them and says they’re allowed out. I might believe this, too, had I not seen things like this on every visit. It’s gotten to the point where I can’t bear to go visit her again.
I don’t know who to contact about this, but someone needs to intervene. I live in another state and have not been able to figure out who to contact in HER state (North Carolina) and let them know they need to inspect ALL her facilities, inside and out, as well as examine her dogs.
