The unfortunate state that many animals housed at the Purple Hearted Puppies facility were found in.
Summerdale police received a tip on last from a neighbor of the Purple Hearted Puppies Rescue facility in Summerdale, Alabama that animals in the facility were in distress. The call prompted police to investigate, where they found over 200 animals that had not been given food or water for close to two weeks. Although initial reports stated that at least 20 dogs and several cats were found dead, the number has at least doubled since then.
Related: Arrests and Charges Brought Against Alabama Rescue Organization
When Purple Hearted Puppies Rescue opened its doors in June of 2010, it had the overall appearance of a state of the art facility. Rescuers looked around at the facility on January 27 and commented on the equipment for housing rescued animals, which is estimated to be a $250,000 set up. Some commented on how they wished their own rescues could afford such nice kennels.
But nice equipment isn’t the only thing needed to make a successful rescue organization. Somewhere along the line, things went terribly wrong. A civil court case has been pending for months to have the facility shut down. When local police received a call on January 26th that there were abandoned animals at the facility and went to investigate, it was obvious that the animals there had been abandoned.
Deneen Balistere, dog adoption coordinator of the Baldwin County Animal Humane Society (BARC) said today that rescuers are not sure how long the animals went without care. PHP owner, Sharon Dueitt, claims she’d been absent from the facility for 10 days, but rescuers think it might have been longer. Dueitt had hired someone to feed and water the animals who quit when he hadn’t been paid in over a week.
In all, there were approximately 200 animals total including livestock housed between the Summerdale facility and the owner’s home in nearby Robertsdale. Of that number, Balistere approximated the number of deaths to be 45 animals – including four or five that had to be euthanized because of the condition they were in. She was not sure if any of the dead animals had been boarders.
In addition to being an “animal rescue facility”, Balistere said that Purple Hearted Puppies was also a boarding facility and bred puppies that were sold at the local flea market.
Besides dogs and cats, PHP also had chickens, goats and horses. The two horses were among the euthanized animals. Balistere said that the chickens had gone to a farm, and the goats had gone to the zoo. The rest of the animals are being held at vet clinics and in local rescues and foster homes. Balistere continued on to state that many of the animals will need weeks of vet care, but because BARC does not yet have permanent legal custody of the animals, they cannot send them to out-of-state rescues or put them up for adoption.
The animals at PHP were housed in several areas, and where they were housed contributed to their overall condition. The dogs and cats housed indoors fared worse than those out of doors, with the exception of the animals inside the house on the Summerdale property. Those pets were able to tear open bags of food and help themselves – but the indoor kenneled animals could only look at the food outside their cages as they starved. As many as six animals were housed in a kennel at a time, and the live animals had resorted to eating the dead ones. The outdoor animals, while without food, at least had access to rainwater.
The Dueitts have been charged with 20 misdemeanor counts apiece and are scheduled to appear in Summerdale Municipal Court on Feb. 20.
The Baldwin County Humane Society needs monetary donations to pay for vet care and food. Tax-deductible donations can be made online at www.BaldwinHumane.org, or mailed to PO Box 206, Fairhope, AL 36533.
Donations of supplies such as leashes, crates, bowls, cat litter, and pet can be dropped off at Summerdale Self Storage, 410 Ala. 59 N., from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, or at the BARC! Office at 306 Magnolia Ave. in downtown Fairhope from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
About the author: Ariel Wulff is an author, artist and animal advocate. She has worked in animal rescue for more than 24 years, authoring the book Born Without a Tail, a memoir of her experiences with rescued animals. She writes a column as the Cleveland Pets Examiner, and is the National Animal Books Examiner. She also maintains a personal blog about dogs: Up on the Woof, and uses her yelodoggie art to spread the joy of living with dogs.
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