More than 40 dogs were removed from a Kibler Valley area property on Thursday, June 12, by the Patrick County Sheriff’s Office, Animal Shelter, and several nonprofit animal organizations.
After receiving a citizen complaint and calls about the animals, Patrick County Sheriff’s Capt. Eric O’Connell said patrol officers were sent to the location on Squirrel Creek Road and conducted an initial assessment.
“That’s what kind of stirred the social media response, and that’s where some of the organizations started vocalizing concerns based on some pictures and videos that this citizen obtained, I must say illegally, because they did trespass on the property,” he said.
While working on the situation, Animal Control Deputy Christian Gilbert said he first reached out to some organizations that had contacted the sheriff’s office about the issue, including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
“I talked to someone from PETA before going out there. When I went out to the house Monday, I did not make contact with the owner, but I did talk to a neighbor who told me that the” owner wasn’t at home, he said.
Gilbert said he observed as much of the property as he could without the property owner being present.
“I saw that there were some dogs that were in small spaces. Generally, as far as the health of the dogs, the ones I observed looked healthy, but the conditions that some of them were in looked to be too small for their sizes,” he said.
Because of the total number of dogs, Gilbert spent the next few days contacting rescue and other organizations.
“At first, I did not receive much help from these organizations until Wednesday, when they started telling me they were going to come here and were willing to help recover these dogs and take them off the property,” he said.
Because the animal shelter couldn’t handle the influx of 45 to 50 dogs in addition to the other animals it receives routinely, O’Connell said getting other organizations involved was essential.
“We couldn’t have done it without their assistance. I think it was five in all, and they came from Virginia Beach, Lexington, Richmond, Charlottesville, and Fredericksburg. The majority of them stayed in Floyd at Hotel Floyd, and then the one from Richmond drove in Thursday morning and they met up here at the sheriff’s office,” he said.
O’Connell added the animal shelter was shut down for the first half of Thursday so its workers could assist in obtaining the dogs.
An estimated 45 to 50 dogs were removed from the property.
“The majority of these went to various parts in Virginia with the intention of rehoming them. That was the intention,” he said. SFC Virginia took in 15 dogs, Old Dominion Humane Society took in 13, Augusta Dog Adoptions took in six, Dogs Deserve Blue Ridge took in four, Sanctuary Rescue took in three, and the local animal shelter took in five.
O’Connell estimated two or three feral dogs are still running loose, with one captured Monday, June 16. The animal shelter will take in the dogs that are still at large.
After a review with the commonwealth’s attorney, Sheriff Dan Smith said charges are anticipated.
Blue Ridge Animal Rescue League (BRAWL) President Dana Jones said it’s an unfortunate situation, as the photos shared by the rescue organizations involved showed the animals in deplorable conditions.
“Their (rescue) videos certainly corroborated what we’ve seen from the individual. I think ‘we’re disappointed’ is to put it mildly because” of a similar situation in 2011. “So this is something that is a repeat offense,” she said.
With animal shelters and rescues at capacity and stretched thin, Jones said having the five rescue agencies travel to the county and coordinate to get the animals out of the situation speaks volumes about them and how much they care.
Jones also encouraged anyone who encounters similar situations to report it.
“We need to keep reporting” similar or suspected cases, she said. “We may feel like nothing’s being done, but we still need to stay on it and keep making those calls to the sheriff’s office and keep it on their radar.”
Dog owner says she was overwhelmed, not abusive
By Taylor Boyd
Betty Haynes, whose dogs were recently removed from her Patrick County property, said she was overwhelmed—not abusive—and claims a trespasser saw the animals confined only because she had briefly stepped out to run an errand.
“All the dogs, all the puppies… they’re loose when I’m home, so instead of putting everybody up, I just stuck everybody in some crates that I had in the back because I was thinking I was just going to be gone for a little bit, so I didn’t think it hurt anything,” she said.
While she was gone, Haynes said her neighbor called to tell her there was somebody at her house.
She said she checked her security cameras, “and I saw the lady that was on my property. She was acting frantic. My first instinct was maybe one of my dogs had gotten out and she had hit it, so I told my neighbor I was coming home.”
When she arrived, all the animals were accounted for. Later that day, Haynes said some deputies arrived, stating they had reports of animals in distress and wanted to know if she’d let them look at the animals.
“I told them no problem, so I took everybody around and showed them all the dogs. They was satisfied that nobody was in immediate danger, so they left,” she said.
About 10 minutes later, Haynes said she saw car lights in her driveway. She noted the car was pulled off to the side of her driveway and parked behind an inoperable vehicle.
“There was this gentleman standing up on the driver’s side and he had his phone in his hand, and I asked him, ‘can I help you?’ He said, ‘yes ma’am. We got some reports of some dogs dying.’ He said, ‘we want to know if you need any help,’” she said.
Haynes said she replied she did not need help and that all her dogs were accounted for and okay.
“Before he got back in the car he told me, ‘well, tomorrow the cops will be here.’ I said, ‘the cops have already been here, and they left.’ When I said that, the lady that had been on my property earlier without permission jumped out of the passenger side of the vehicle and got in my face and told me ‘b****, I’m the one that reported you.’ I said, ‘I know. I got you on camera. You was on my camera.’ She said, ‘I should kick your a** and put you in a crate,’” Haynes said of the exchange.
At that point, Haynes alleged two people in the car started to surround her. The man she initially spoke to physically restrained them, she alleged.
Having missed a visit from Animal Control Officer Christian Gilbert on Monday, Haynes said she later talked to him and voluntarily told him she needed help.
“I sincerely needed help because I had been asking for help for almost a year from other rescues and nobody could physically take anything. I knew I was at the point I wasn’t physically able to do anything. At that point I knew I couldn’t do it, so I started asking for help and all the rescues were full, the shelters were full, so the only thing moving was the animals that I actually got placed and adopted out myself, so I had been working on that,” she said.
Haynes said some of her 45 dogs were pulled from shelters, while others were likely dropped off on Squirrel Creek Road and then made their way to her house. Once, she said, a crate with a puppy was left on her front porch.
“A lot of those were small puppies though. The younger dogs … they didn’t take up quite as much space. Everybody, they get outside time and loose. They’re not up all the time,” she said.
The dogs were up when the rescues arrived “because we didn’t need everybody under our feet” to make the process go faster, Haynes said, adding that she was allowed to keep three dogs.
She said she started the dog rescue, Save A Mutt Kennel, because she wanted to do something to help.
“It was nothing with bad intentions at all. I mean my heart’s always been in the right place, it’s just been a little bit overwhelming since I got sick and the issue with my health and stuff,” she said, adding that she has been diagnosed with cancer.
Haynes has been reported for animal issues before, she said.
“That’s normally because somebody had maybe reported something that they didn’t understand, and they always came out and checked and everything. But that wasn’t very much as far as the checking in, but I understand if somebody called, they had to check,” she said.
Haynes added this incident was ill-timed and looked bad.
“I mean my grass is grown up and junk everywhere, but as far as I know high grass and junk stored on your property is not against the law, but I’ll own up to whatever. But my heart’s always been in the right place, I was just overwhelmed,” she said.
Haynes expects to face charges due to the incident, and said she doesn’t plan to rescue more animals in the future.
“Everybody got what they wanted. My intentions was never in a bad spot, I mean it was always to help. I was overwhelmed and nobody helped me,” she said. “I mean dealing with this with the animals and stuff was bad enough, but having to deal with the other issues that these people have caused and harassing me and wishing me dead and stuff like that—that’s tough. I don’t ever want to have to deal with anything like that again.”
