HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) – On Tuesday afternoon, Horry County Police cited a Loris-area woman in what it calls an animal hoarding case.
Lt. Raul Denis says police ticketed Janie Waddel for violating the county animal care and treatment ordinance among other charges. It’s one of several other dog seizures police have conducted in the last month.
When dogs are rescued by police they are taken to the Horry County Animal Center. Police have taken more than 200 dogs to the shelter in the past month. Lt. Dennis says the recent attention on these types of cases has people more alert to possible puppy mills and hoarding situations.
The shelter’s staff says when the dogs come to the shelter, the amount of work it has to do depend a lot on the condition of the animals. Each dog has to be examined then go though the grooming, spaying and neutering process before they can be adopted.
The shelter’s director says the number of dogs coming in such a short period has taken a toll on the staff but they remained prepared.
“This is an animal care center; we do this year in and year out. We are handling the situations. It has been a little impact on the staff but as always we’re committed to excellence and we’ll get it done,” Director Garry Gause said.
The shelter’s staff says all of the dogs from the previous county cases have either been adopted or are now at a rescue center.
This group of 19 dogs should be ready for adoption early next week. The staff says one difference in this case is the owner willingly gave the shelter the dogs so the staff could begin the evaluation process sooner.
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