ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Twenty-three dogs and two cats were seized Wednesday from a home in Orange County, what the sheriff’s office said was its largest year-to-date animal confiscation.
The sheriff’s office, assisted by Orange County Animal Services, responded around 1:30 p.m. to the 700 block of West Kaley Avenue to conduct an animal abuse investigation, a spokesperson said in a statement.
The shelter reported that it took in a total of 85 pets on Wednesday alone, 45 of which were dogs.
“This has overwhelmed our shelter and to accommodate these dogs we need people to step forward willing to help care for our existing, available shelter pets. We need adopters and we need foster parents,” Diane Summers, OCAS manager, said in a statement.
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The shelter urged those with knowledge of cases of animal cruelty to report them on the shelter’s website, or anonymously through either Orange County’s 311 helpline or Crimeline.
OCAS officers have assisted local law enforcement with 170 investigations just this year, resulting in 407 animal inpounds, according to the shelter. The dogs seized Wednesday will be held for an indefinite period, a news release states.
“Almost every one of these cases started because someone was brave enough to pick up the phone and make an anonymous report,” Summers said. “We want to say thank you to those individuals, because their one action made all the difference for these pets in immediate harm’s way.”
Learn more and look into adopting or fostering a pet at the OCAS website.
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