In an amazing story, authorities in Tennessee who stopped a van towing a U-Haul discovered 144 dogs (up from initial reports of 128) and a cat inside, crammed three and four to a crate and living in their own filth. One dog was dead. Even more shocking is that the two women arrested for animal cruelty—Bonnie Sheehan and Pamela King-McCraken—are associated with an animal rescue group called Hearts for Hounds, based in Long beach, California. The women told police that they were bringing the dogs to Virginia to put them up for adoption. But both are now sitting in the Fayette County Jail on $100,000 bond.
The Hearts for Hounds website has been shut down, and the group’s Facebook Page has been scrubbed. But that hasn’t stopped 265 dog lovers from leaving comments on the page—many in support of the work the two women have done in the past to save dogs. I’m sure there are more details, yet to be revealed, that will help to explain why these women chose this horrific method of transporting dogs. We’ll offer updates as they become available.
For more background on this tragedy, click here, and here’s the latest update suggesting that things in Long Beach were under scrutiny.