More than 30 animals rescued from ‘hoarding situation’ at Hermitage home

HERMITAGE, Tenn. (WKRN) — What started as a welfare check from Nashville authorities led to the discovery of 35 animals inside a home in Hermitage.

According to Metro Nashville Care and Control (MACC), 17 dogs and 18 cats were rescued from a home on Port Jamaica Court on Monday, March 18.

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Officials said the homeowners surrendered all the animals to MACC and were given an environmental citation for hoarding.

Trash, feces and dirt covered the floors where over 35 animals lived, slept, and ate.

Next door neighbors told News 2, they only saw the pet owner walk a dog once or twice and said they never heard noises coming from inside the house.

Matt Peters, spokesperson for MACC, said the dogs and cats that were removed from the home are currently being housed and assessed at the shelter. He told News 2 it’s fairly common to have to put animals down when they’re in mass hoarding situations, but luckily in this case, the shelter has not had to euthanize any so far.

Those animals are being treated for malnourishment, dehydration and illnesses.

“The animals that did come in, a few are on the sick side and a few look underweight,” Peters said. “With this many animals, it’s hard to really imagine each animal is getting the care that they need, because they need exercise, food and to be cleaned up after.”

MACC said its animal control officers are planning to go back to the house to make sure no pets were left behind.

As the animals continue to come in, the vet will check them out, they will get bathed and have a clean and safe environment to heal.

“We do anticipate there might be a few more cats in there,” Peters said. “If you know cats, sometimes getting them to come out isn’t the easiest thing in the world. We’re going to go back out and make sure that any animals there that do need us are able to come into our care.”

With the shelter currently at its full capacity, Peters said MACC is urgently in need of people to help out with adopting and fostering animals.

“Unfortunately, we were already about as full as we could be,” Peters said. “Adding thirty more animals is really tough for us so we are asking the community if you can foster, if you can take in an animal even just for a week or for a couple of weeks, that really does help us out.”

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If you’re struggling to care for your pets, Peters advises you to reach out to MACC for assistance.

“We really hope situations don’t get like this where we have to step in,” Peters said. “We’ve got a safety net program here and we can help them.”

In an effort to help clear space for more furry friends, MACC is waiving all adoption fees this week.

To learn more about adopting a pet or becoming a foster, click here.

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