Winnipeg, MB, Canada. On a normal day, the Winnipeg Humane Society would house some 29 dogs that would be waiting for adoption. But that figure blew out to 100 dogs overnight when Police seized 68 dogs living in horrific conditions at a Winnipeg Home.
No one knew that the non-descript house in the Richmond West neighborhood was hiding such a disgusting and terrible secret. Behind the facade of the house, dogs were in filthy and putrid conditions that shocked animal services.
Police had stumbled on the house by chance. They were in the area for a completely different matter, which was a welfare check in the block of 100 Brentlawn Boulevard.
But the stench coming from the nearby house was so bad, it prompted Police to check out what was going on. What they found was the stench was coming from dog urine and feces that made them choke up with disgust.
The Police called City of Winnipeg animal services who turned up quickly to assess the scene and rescue the dogs. Conditions were so bad that they had to wear hazardous material suits to rescue the traumatized dogs.
The rescued dogs had a number of issues that were to be expected from animals held in such degraded conditions. Almost all had eye issues, filthy coats with sores, poor oral health, and were generally in a frightened and dysmal state.
The manager of animal services at City of Winnipeg, Leland Gordon, said that “It’s just very sad, the general conditions. Just unacceptable and horrific for animals, let alone people, to be living in conditions like this.”
The Winnipeg Humane Society have been tasked with grooming the dogs, treating their conditions, and preparing them for adoption. It is a mammoth task, espcially since funding has been scarce and they already were trying to re-home existing dogs.
The Winnipeg Humane Society shelter is at maximum capacity. The CEO of the WHS, Jessica Miller “Where are we going to put all the animals. We don’t know.”
It could also cost WHS up to $150,000 to treat all the dogs properly. But currently they are doing an amazing job getting the dogs ready for adoption.
The occupiers of the raided house have been severely criticized by members of the public. But Jessica Miller said it didn’t look a backyard breeding puppy mill. She said it may be that the owners had no money to look after the dogs. They may have also been insane.
Donations can be made to the Winnipeg Humane Society: