Written by Amanda Coers – A heartbreaking photo is being shared on Facebook with the hashtag #eastlandcounty14 showing a group of dogs being dumped on an Eastland County backroad. In the photo, a black truck is seen driving away in the distance. According to witnesses, the person in the black truck dumped the dogs onto the road and left at a high rate of speed.
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Individuals wishing to remain anonymous began rescue efforts after being tagged in the Facebook posts.
“The people who actually drove out and gathered up the dogs are not asking for recognition,” a rescuer said. “We just want to get help for the 14 helpless dogs that were mistreated and then callously dumped on a backroad with no food, water or shelter.”
The dogs were located near a vacant house along the backroad where they had been dumped. They were reportedly starving and skittish, some needing to be cornered and leashed before being loaded into vehicles where food was ready for the animals.
Ten of the dogs were collected Sunday evening, with six transported to the Corinne T. Smith Animal Center in Brownwood. Four dogs are currently housed with a rescuer in the Ranger area. Rescuers returned to the area on Monday and were able to locate three more dogs.
One has yet to be found.
The Corinne T. Smith Animal Center opened their doors Sunday evening after normal intake hours to accommodate the dogs.
Photos of the dogs show their bones protruding along their back, hips, and rib cages, as evidence of neglect and starvation.
“The real heroes are the people at the Corinne T. Smith Animal Center who unlocked their doors on a Sunday night and took in six of the dogs and then three more of them on Monday,” a rescuer said. “This animal center will work to care for these scarred, injured souls. They will vaccinate them and feed them to get weight put back on them. They will work to find homes for them and volunteers will go love on them, play with them, exercise them until they are adopted.”
If you would like to help these dogs you can donate to the animal shelter, be a ‘Guardian Angle’ by sponsoring an adoption fee, or volunteer at the shelter. Donations can be made at www.ctsanimalcenter.org, click help/donate, and mark for #Eastlandcounty14.