Woofy Acres dog rescue’s neglect on shelter dogs leads to criminal investigation after the San Bernardino County Animal Care seized 114 dogs from them in mid-July.
The San Bernardino Sun reports that county officials said that the dogs seized from the dog rescue were primarily large and aggressive Pit Bulls with severe health issues.
They also report that the dogs lived in “inadequate conditions” at the over-capacity kennel that Woofy Acres was running in Pinon Hills.
Unfortunately, because of the dogs’ aggressive nature and declining health, 93 out of the 114 dogs were put down.
County animal care spokesperson Francis Delapaz reveals to the San Bernardino Sun that 19 dogs have been placed. Meanwhile, two dogs, a female Pit Bull Terrier and a Shepherd mix, are still up for adoption at 19777 Shelter Way in San Bernardino.
Animal advocates and people who work and volunteer in animal shelters reacted strongly upon hearing the news about the ongoing investigation on Woofy Acres and its founder, Dianne Bedford.
Heather McDermott-Perez, a volunteer with Orange County Animal Care said, “(Bedford) needs to never pull dogs again.”
The San Bernardino Sun reveals that the Orange County Animal Care released a total of 149 dogs to Woofy Acres, with the last placement in January of this year.
Additional insight to the dog rescue and the neglect that the dogs experienced were revealed by Lauren Cardona, co-founder of Saving Devore Dogs.
Talking to the San Bernardino Sun, Cardona reveals that one dog seized by San Bernardino County from the dog rescue, named “Checkers” was emaciated.
Cardona described Checkers as “literally like looking at a skeleton with skin over it”. She also noted that the Woofy Acres site in Pinon Hills “was in the middle of the desert. I don’t know how these dogs didn’t die.”
Earlier this year, Bedford and Woofy Acres made headlines after they were accused of abandoning 32 dogs at Shanderin Kennels, a Rowland Heights dog grooming and boarding business.
“We don’t understand how anyone would think this is OK,” Shanderin Kennels Vet Tech Samantha Redline tells KTLA in February. “We heard that she did this to two other facilities.”
KTLA also reveals that Bedford owed the dog grooming and boarding business nearly $40,000 for the amount spent on the dogs she abandoned there.
After Bedford abandoned the dogs, local shelters were forced to take the responsibility and find a solution that did not involve returning them to Woofy Acres.
A Reddit thread further exposes Bedford and how Woofy Acres “specialized in pulling drama dogs – biters, big aggression, big fear, non-adoptable dogs.”
Furthermore, the San Bernardino Sun reveals that Woofy Acres has a “delinquent status” with the state Attorney’s General Office, meaning they cannot solicit nor disburse donation.