Fourteen dogs were rescued from a ranch property in the Coachella Valley Monday, and animal control officials say dozens more still need to be retrieved.
According to Riverside County Animal Services, the dogs were living off of Vee Bee Road in an unincorporated area near Desert Hot Springs called Sky Valley.
Authorities responded to the property Sunday after neighbors who were concerned about the owner’s well-being discovered his body.
Animal Services officials said five great Danes were around the man’s body when he was found.
It’s estimated there were about 50 or more dogs on the property, primarily small breeds. A surviving relative has relinquished ownership of the dogs, officials said.
While officers were successful in wrangling up some of the dogs, the rest were running loose and officers were concerned about the dogs suffering heat-related injuries if they continued to chase them. Neighbors are providing food and water to the remaining dogs for the time being
On Tuesday, animal control officers went back to the property to try and catch more of the dogs; it’s unclear if they were successful.
Officials said many of the animals will be flown to Utah on Friday via Wings of Rescue, a nonprofit organization that “flies abandoned, homeless and at-risk pets from overcrowded shelters and disaster areas to shelters with available space.”
The cost of transporting the rescued animals is funded entirely by donations.
“Rescue missions such as this are a vital part of our portfolio of positive outcomes,” said Riverside County Animal Services Director Erin Gettis. “Other states and organizations are in need of animals for adoption and it is wonderful when we can work with these community partners to make it happen.”
This is the third animal hoarding situation that Animal Services has responded to in the last two weeks. On July 11, 50 dogs were removed from a property in Thermal, including several that had died. Twenty more were impounded from a home in Indio the following day.
To contact the Riverside County Animal Services to report other hoarding situations, or to obtain help for yourself, click here.
