Bringing up from the comments on this post, a call from Teresa Uzzell (the whistleblower who took evidence of abuse to the local news) to organize and take action with regard to the Abbeville Animal Shelter in SC:
Please to all who can help these animals in the (Hell-Hole) at this moment; if you can call me at 864-341-9869 / or e-mail me at teresav_remu@yahoo.com, I would like to meet this Tuesday in Abbeville in the middle of the square 12:00 noon. To openly discuss how to shut down the shelter. It does not need to be in a sewage area and the shelter itself is not properly fit to keep animals in. Also to get it opened up and get the animals out and placed to safety. As a team and a tax payer we can help these animals. If no one can do this; I do understand with working and time. I will still fight this until something is done somehow.
You can read Ms. Uzzell’s entire comment here.
I received an update yesterday. Jennifer at http://www.classiccanine.org is trying to build some sort of relationship with the Abbeville shelter. Her message follows:
There have been some rumors going on about the state of affairs at the animal control shelter in Abbeville County (SC) and for the last few weeks we’ve been doing some research so that we can present facts. I went out to the shelter tonight.
Basically it all began when a women in Abbeville lost her dog. She called animal control and asked to visit to see if her dog was there (she did find him later). What she found was beyond a hell hole, no food, water was green and runs were piled in feces. Apparently this has been going on for years. That was mid October. She was able to get video footage and a media story ran. It’s on my Classic Canine FB page if you would like to view it.
Teresa and her husband have been working diligently to get some change at this shelter. Basically the animals go in and they do not come out. Animal control has had no desire to do adoptions or work with rescues and unless you are really looking for your animal if it ends up there most likely you won’t see it again. There is not an active local humane society here that I know about.
We made HUGE progress today, thanks to Teresa and Mike. Thanks to one of the police officers (who does like animals) we were able to get into the facility. It had been cleaned and there was food and water available. That said it was the coldest dampest place I’ve ever been in (no heat or air). The officer said he would be willing to release their animals to rescues.
The dogs only have 5 days once they arrive at the shelter so timing is of the essence here.
Right now until we can build this relationship DO NOT CALL them. I am going to be the rescue coordinator until we can get something better in place.
When we went in they have about ten runs and some stacked crates for cats. We looked at all the intake sheets and all the animals have come in in the last couple of days which means they are very serious about the hold dates. There are no names or even intake numbers yet so here we go.
There are about 11 dogs and 13 cats that need help NOW. Thankfully all appear to be very adoptable and are in good shape..no visible issues.
3 female Beagles – one appears pregnant – all are very sweet but scared
1 senior Beagle – which I have taken into my rescue
1 tiny yellow puppy female – about 6wks – will be a small dog
1 med white dog – very calm and sweet
1 black med size dog – he’s super urgent – no photo
1 small chunky middle aged guy – he’s had a home in the past – probably a chi mix – no photo
1 med size tan with black – nice boy mix breed
Cats and kitten are a mix of age and looked in good shape.
It was too dark to get good photos tonight with the rain but I’ve attached a few.
I need your help rescue friends. I can’t do this by myself and these dogs deserve better than this. I will help get them to a central location for transport or meet you somewhere. If you would be willing to take a dog or cat let me know ASAP otherwise they will die it’s that simple.
My information is as follows:
Jennifer Wilkie
864-993-3117 cell phone
Jwilkie@classiccanine.org
I will be posting information on my Classic Canine facebook page. If you can’t help but would like to make a donation to help vet or feed these animals email me.
I work part time and can’t take calls at work so leave me a message and I will get back to you ASAP. Email is the best for me.
Thank you in advance for helping the animals of Abbeville County. I will go back over on Monday afternoon please let me know who your rescue can take in and please forward to anyone you feel could help.
Jen
Jennifer Wilkie
Classic Canine, LLC
A Senior Dog Rescue
http://www.ClassicCanine.org
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