TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – The Toledo Humane Society says the number of calls for things like abuse and neglect have increased sharply in recent weeks.
The shelter takes in more than 4,000 animals a year, and about 700 of them come in as cruelty cases. Courtney Schroyer, a cruelty investigator for the THS says there’s been a recent uptick in her workload.
“We have seen a significant increase in the number of cruelty cases this past month,” said Schroyer. “Abuse, neglect, starvation, abandonment, all of the above.”
The shelter currently has two puppies which are of the most recent cases.
“They have a type of mange that comes from a weak immune system,” said Dr. Anna Brown, director of medical services. “We are treating the infection and the parasite that is living in their skin.”
There was also another case in recent weeks involving a dozen dogs found at a Toledo home. THS investigators say those dogs are connected to several people who are facing charges ranging from domestic violence and kidnapping to felonious assault.
“There was one deceased dog. The living dogs were in various stages of skin infections, wounds and severe weight loss,” said Brown. “The deceased dog was emaciated. We did a necropsy where we opened her up to see what had happened and we found almost four pounds of fabric in her stomach, little pieces she had chewed up trying to get something to eat.”
Stephen Heaven, the head of the shelter, says these cases are just the tip of a concerning trend.
“Recently in one week, virtually every day we had a really bad case come in,” said Heaven.
He says it’s not clear what’s behind this recent surge in cruelty cases but wants to remind everyone there is help available and people need to ask for it.
“It’s not rocket science, animals are suffering,” said Heaven. “Don’t just watch, do something about it.”
There is also a case under investigation involving a cat that was found bludgeoned to death. People who are found guilty in any of these cases could face both jail time and fines
If you have any information about these cases or any animal in need, reach out to the cruelty investigators at the humane society.
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This article was published by WTVG on 2025-04-15 18:49:00
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