After the Humane Society of the United States rescued them from a farm in Ashtabula County, hundreds of animals are living in better conditions now.
The owner died last month, and over several weeks, the organization helped the animals left behind in what’s been called a “horrific” environment.
We want to warn you this story may be difficult to read.
Animals were trapped in tiny cages. There were rows and rows of them.
That is what rescuers with the Humane Society saw in Hartsgrove Township at the Grand River Fur Exchange.
Mark Finneran, the Ohio State Director for the Humane Society, was there.
“A lot of the cages were caked with their own feces and urine and clumps of fur,” he described. “And just dirt and debris and just years of neglect.”
Finneran told us 330 animals were rescued over several weeks, and the operation wrapped up on Jan. 25.
“It’s really unimaginable that somebody could be day in and day out operating a facility like this,” said Finneran.
The Humane Society said a wide variety of animals at the farm were foxes, raccoons, dog-wolf hybrids, opossums, coyotes, and even skunks. They were in wire-bottom cages, all with little to no protection from the elements.
“It was a house of horrors is really the only way to put it,” said Finneran.
State records from the Ohio Department of Agriculture showed that in 2014, it had to remove dangerous wild animals from the farm. Neighbors told us in 2006, a bear from the farm got loose.
Finneran said the animals taken in the past weeks are now with wildlife rehabs and sanctuaries. They are healing and getting stronger.
“That’s the inspiring part, right?” said Finneran. “There’s such a network of folks who are willing to step up in times of need.”
He told us laws for these operations are weak and ready for change.
“Here in Ohio, our focus is to make sure that a situation like this can never happen again,” Finneran said. “Something has to be done to make sure we better protect animals that are caught up in these situations.”
