When the owners of the Purple Hearted Puppies Animal Rescue Center in Summerdale, Alabama took a long vacation, they hired outside help to care for nearly two hundred animals. Unfortunately, that hired help never arrived, and an outside agency was forced to take over the operation.
Speaking to WKRG , animal control expert Deneen Balistere, who has worked with rescue animals for twenty years, said of the shelters conditions, “They warned me what it was going to be like. It’s the worst I’ve ever seen.” Among the animals left to die were more than two hundred dogs, various cats, and two horses.
According to authorities, at least twenty animals were found dead when the shelter was raided, and Deneen says they are now in need of “food, blankets, help, donations anything to save these dogs.”
The animals were left without food or water for nearly two weeks, and authorities say some of the dogs resorted to cannibalism to stay alive.
At this time, Roberta and Sharon Dueitt have been charged with twenty counts each of animal cruelty with dozens of more charges pending.
After hearing about the incident, more that fifty volunteers arrived at the Purple Hearted Puppies Animal Rescue Center to help care for the sick animals.
In the meantime, animal adoptions are urgently needed at the center with officials ready to adopt out pets starting at eight o’clock on Friday morning.
Police, in the meanwhile, are still searching for other employees who work at the center with an ongoing investigation still underway.