Rescued dogs get new leash on life

LARGO - Crated and carted to the Bay Area in the middle of the night.

It's been a long rough ride for two dozens dogs brought to the SPCA Tampa Bay in Largo late Monday night, but now they are on the road to recovery.

"We are taking care of them and getting them through their medical assessment and making them as comfortable as possible, SPCA Tampa Bay Communications Manager Megan Trethewey said.

Rescue crew with the organization drove hours to help rescue 24 dogs from Nashville, Tenn.

"Over the weekend they did a seizure of 57 dogs, and unfortunately the facility at Cheatham did not have enough room for all of them," Trethewey explained.

The animals were taken as part of a hoarding investigation. Rescuers found many of the dogs with mental and physical problems.

"Most of them were malnourished. Some were severely matted," Trethewey said. "They are all flea infested."

The animals are now being cleaned and cared for, examined by veterinarians.

The SPCA Tampa Bay hopes to be able to adopt out all of the dogs rescued. Depending on their conditions, some may be ready to be adopted as early as a week from now.

Others will need more care and will be put in a foster care program until they are ready for adoption. Organizers say seeing the animals in poor condition is never easy.

"What we're doing is saving lives and saving the lives of these animals and that's the good part of the job," Trethewey said.

In most hoarding cases, the SPCA Tampa Bay says the owners mean no harm, but get overwhelmed.

"Their intent is great. They want to take care of the animals, but financially at a certain point in time, they just aren't able to do it," Trethewey explained. "And it becomes unhealthy for the animals and unhealthy for the person."

The SPCA Tampa Bay has helped in similar out-of-state resources before and typically gets a great turn out of support.

People are always eager to give a friendly fuzzy face a new forever home.

The adoption information will be posted on the organization's website at www.spcatampabay.org as soon as it's available.