KOKOMO — The lives of six dogs in Kokomo are now saved after community members jumped into action this weekend.
"Once they told us we could take them I think we had them in the car within three minutes," said Misty Dexter, an animal advocate.
A Facebook post started circulating where neighbors were expressing concerns for dogs that looked like they had been neglected and one that was dead. Dexter is one of three people that showed up to the property off of South 400 East in Kokomo. She says the dogs were living in igloos outside and were chained to trees.
"They had no food, no water, bowls that were overturned and completely empty," said Dexter.
Dexter says they were able to convince the original owners to give the dogs over. The six surviving dogs are underweight, some have open wounds on their feet, and scars on their ears. Dexter says the owners told her the dogs weren't neglected.
"They reported that they were feeding the dogs, that the dogs were being cared for but they did acknowledge that the dog outside froze to death," said Dexter.
WRTV also reached out to the owners, one of them answered and then hung up on us.
Dexter says neighbors reached out to the Howard County Sheriff's Office and Kokomo Humane Society. She says they came out to the property, but only removed the body of the dog that died.
"There was no accountability from anyone. We pay these agencies with our tax dollars to protect these animals. They can’t protect themselves, they depend on humans for care and support and the owners weren’t doing it. The safe guard was law enforcement, was the humane society and they came and they saw this and they still said it’s not our responsibly, but it is, it’s literally in your job description," said Dexter.
WRTV reached out to the Howard County Sheriff's Office and the Kokomo Humane Society. The sheriff's office told us this is an animal control investigation and animal control has not responded to us.
According to the Indiana State Board of Animal Health if you think you see signs of animal abuse or neglect the first step is to call your local animal control, but if you're community doesn't have one call the Sheriff's Office. Animal control is not mandated by the Sate of Indiana.
"So what happens and how a case is handled varies widely from one jurisdiction to the next," said Denise Derrer Spears, a spokesperson for the Indiana State Board of Animal Health.
Derrer Spears says when animal control or law enforcement goes into a situation, they're looking for any signs of abuse, neglect or abandonment.
"And all of those have legal definitions in Indiana law so they'll be going in there looking for something that meets that standard," said Derrer Spears.
The six dogs have been named the Land Before Love Pack after the movie the Land Before Time. Five of them are up for adoption or need a foster homes they're named Cera, Petri, Little Foot, Spike, and Chomper.
They're also in need of donations for vet care. If you would like to donate you can contact Misty at 619-787-2838 or mistycdexter86@gmail.com.
Kokomo Humane Society sent the following response to WRTV on December 16.
Kokomo Humane Society is investigating this matter to every extent we are legally authorized. While release of information is limited in open investigations, we are able to clarify the WRTV report and state that Kokomo Humane Society did not remove a deceased dog from the mentioned address. On Saturday, December 16th our call service received a concern without a complete address. Our Animal Control Officer dispatched to the property after social media posts included the address of concern. Evaluation of conditions, once again, did not allow us to legally seize the dogs without owner surrender.
We empathize with our community’s distress when owned animals do not receive the care they deserve. Within the rule of law, our staff and volunteers work tirelessly to improve the lives of animals in Howard County including pursuit of more enforceable ordinances that will best protect local animals at risk of neglect, abuse, and cruelty. Kokomo Humane Society remains available to all Howard County animals in need, including the dogs recently featured by WRTV. Community members who witness or suspect cruelty to animals or pet neglect should call our Cruelty Investigator at (765) 452-6224.
