Nearly 100 dogs rescued after Uber Eats driver reports smell

EDINBURG, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The Palm Valley Animal Society says the 93 dogs and one cat that were rescued over the weekend are being cared for by foster families.

On Saturday, McAllen police and other agencies responded to a home at the 3400 block of Ozark after an Uber Eats driver called them about the horrible smell coming from the house.

Two women were taken into custody and charged with 94 counts of animal cruelty.

Police say they were overwhelmed by the huge number of dogs inside the house and they requested help from McAllen Animal Care Services.

Faith Wright, the Palm Valley Animal Society director of operations said the animals all were in bad shape when they arrived. Wright said most of them had never been groomed and some were in heat distress.

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“They are very, very matted, some can barely walk, due to their feet being tied together by their hair,” Wright said. “It’s been a pretty traumatic situation.”

She said dog groomers from across the Rio Grande Valley have volunteered to help her agency and are working on the worst cases of matting.

“Our community has been amazing. Weslaco Animal Control has taken four dogs to the groomers and are bringing them back,” Wright said. “Pets A Like and a couple of our volunteers grooming our animals as well.”

Wright said 15 of the dogs have been groomed so far and with plenty more to go. She added that foster families and rescue volunteers have offered to take the animals to their homes.

While the dogs need care, Wright said they are in a rush to get the dogs out of the shelter because while two people have been taken into police custody, the dogs could go right back where they came from.

“The goal is to get everybody fostered and rescued out. And the only reason for that is that we don’t know if the person is going to win their court case or not. So, if they’re in foster or rescue and they get she gets to have them back, we have to return them. And so, if they’re adopted, we can’t return them,” Wright said. “So far 22 dogs have left for rescue, six in foster and tomorrow we have a whole bunch of rescues coming down and start picking up animals.”

Wright added all 93 dogs will be moved to foster care or rescue homes by Tuesday.

“Everybody has been sharing the post and being super helpful, from La Joya, Weslaco, Mission, Hidalgo County officials,” Wright said. “Everyone has been super gracious with their assistance with us and we could not do this alone.”

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Heidy Martinez, a foster, told sister station ValleyCentral that they had to shave the dog she fostered completely because it was horribly matted and had a stench of urine and feces.

She said the dog’s nails were growing in the matted hair.

Wright said Saturday’s call about the odor coming from the house was a perfect example of a call to action.

“If you sense something going on in your community, don’t hesitate to call the police,” she said. “In this case, this was an Uber Eats driver delivering food and called in that it smelled like ‘death’ at the house.”

Wright said Palm Valley is seeking help from dog groomers who can groom the animals still matted. She said they’ve also set up a special donation link on their website.

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