24 Animals recovered from abandoned Columbus home
COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL)— Monday, concerned Columbus residents came together when one neighbor believed a house on her street had animals locked inside. Little did they know the suspected four dogs, turned into more than 20 animals.
“Last weekend on Sunday, I saw the tenant packing up a U-Haul and she took off down the road. So, I figured that the dogs were with her,” Claire O’Connor said. She frequently walks her own dogs down 17th Avenue. Nearly a week later on April 20, she realized she had been mistaken.
“On Saturday, I was walking my dogs, and I heard a commotion, and I thought maybe it was behind the house,” O’Connor explained. “And the person I was walking with said, ‘no, it’s in the house.’ So, I looked up and you could see the dogs in there and I was like, ‘Oh… They’ve been in there for a week.'”
Claire tells WRBL the tenant’s immediate neighbor said she had not seen the resident all week. After checking on the dogs through the weekend, O’Connor called Columbus Animal Control Monday morning. Within a few hours, Animal Control placed a 72-hour notice on the front door of the property, but O’Connor felt that was not enough.
“After that, I just posted this Facebook post and tagged anybody I could think of that might have an interest in this and hoping that they would have a larger Facebook following than I do,” O’Connor said. “And possibly get the word out, in fact, that that’s exactly what happened.”
With nearly 300 Facebook comments, Amy Ellington saw the post late in the afternoon. She had been running errands in the area and felt compelled to stop by the house.
“I just kind of took the initiative to drive out to the house to see what I could see. I saw there were dogs in the window, cats in the window crying for help,” Ellington said. “They were hungry. Some of them were aggressive because of that.”
Columbus Animal Control told Ellington, and WRBL, they were monitoring the house and were waiting for the 72-hour period to be up. Ellington felt that was not enough.
“I said, ‘No, I’m not waiting. I’m calling Columbus Police Department and I’m going to have somebody come out here,” Ellington said. “And so, Officer Roman came out here and he has been a tremendous help. He contacted everybody he knew to try to get everybody out here. Within 10 minutes, he had his guys out here trying to get all the animals out, and they were able to get them out safely.”
A total of 20 cats and four dogs were pulled from the home.
“I was totally surprised. I’m floored that anybody could neglect an animal like that,” O’Connor said. “I met the lady. She was always really nice, but she just couldn’t control the dogs. And I guess at some point she just gave up.”
Both O’Connor and Ellington were grateful for the swift support of Columbus Police, Animal Control, and fellow animal lovers in the community.
“It’s very word by mouth, word by Internet, anything, anything to get the word out. It is just amazing to me how people just come together even in the middle of a workday, people on lunch breaks, and stop what they’re doing to come together to make sure that the right thing is done for the right for the right reason,” Ellington said.
The rental property is owned by an LLC based out of state, they confirmed with WRBL this tenant is under eviction. The company said they had conducted an occupancy check on the April 17 to make sure the home was not vacant, upon seeing the animals in the window and trash outside they believed the tenant was still at the property.
According to the Columbus Animal Control lieutenant on the scene Monday, next steps for the animals include a 20-day stray hold and a wellness check before they become adoptable.
Four Dogs Seized
20 Cats Pulled from Home
Additional Photos
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