More than two dozen animals rescued from “horrible” conditions in Sussex County

SUSSEX COUNTY, Del. – Officials rescued two dozen animals from deplorable conditions in Sussex County. WMDT’s Haley Rae spoke with officials about the investigation.

“Our partners at the Office of Animal Welfare are actually the group that found the dogs. It was reported to them that it was animal neglect … They had fleas. Some of them are suffering a lot of hair loss, itchiness. They needed medications for those types of things. This is pretty common in a case where they’ve been living in unsanitary conditions,” said Laura Page, Senior Operations Manager at the Brandywine Valley SPCA’s Animal Rescue Center in Georgetown.

The Delaware Office of Animal Welfare recovered 23 cats and two dogs from the property. The rescued animals are receiving care from their volunteers, veterinarians, and other staff.

“Every single animal that came into our care from this case is going to need to be spayed or neutered, (as well as) vaccinations. They’ll be micro-chipped. They need a little bit of time to adjust, plus their medications,” said Sara Smith, Senior Director of the Brandywine Valley SPCA.

Many of the animals recovered are still in need of care, including a kitten suffering from anemia and a heart murmur.

“We also have two cats in our isolation area because of upper respiratory infections, which come from living in all the euria, all of that urine. It’s a horrible breathing environment for humans and animals,” Page said.

The Animal Rescue Center has seen many large-scale cases, Page said.

“Last year, we had the case of 69 (animals) and then the case of 36 (animals). When there are large-scale cases, they always come here,” Page said.

The animal will continue their recovery at the Animal Rescue Center, but will be put up for adoption soon. The neglect case, meanwhile, remains under investigation.