CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — UPDATE: On May 18 at approximately 2:49 pm officers were dispatched to the 2800 block of Niagara St. in reference to animal cruelty.
Officers arrived and made contact with the property owner, according to the Corpus Christi Police Blotter page.
Animal control investigated and removed 35 dogs and 1 cat from the residence. In addition, they arrested three men and one woman for animal cruelty.
Pets of all sizes and ages, even newborn pups, could be seen being carried out of the home.
Among those on scene Wednesday afternoon was Joel Skidmore, program manager for Animal Care Services.
"There's a multitude of cruelty violations that we need to address," Skidmore said. "There’s animals that have untreated medical conditions for an unknown amount of time. There’s animals living in close proximities of their feces and urine, that’s what we consider 'cruel confinement.'"
He says situations like this are difficult, but that sadly, it is not new territory.
"We run into the situation where people are either trying to do the right thing and they get overboard, or they get over-collected and a lot of the times we have to intervene," Skidmore said.
"Some people think their heart is in the right place, they’re doing right by the animals and they don’t realize how bad the conditions are or how bad the animals are being treated until PD shows up, Animal Care Services shows up, and we have to take these measures."
Corpus Christi Animal Care Services is asking local rescue partners to lend a helping hand in providing the animals that are already in their care with optimal shelter.
According to a social media post from Animal Care Services, the organization is "currently beyond maximum capacity" and cannot house the animals.
Skidmore is also calling on community members to help if they can through fostering.
"There’s a court process and also we need to make sure that the animals are treated," Skidmore said. "But we have a large amount of animals on campus that are truly in need of a home. The best support that we could have is if you’re able to open your home up as a foster, foster an animal temporarily for us."
If residents can help shelter any animals they can email the organization at ccacsrescues@cctexas.com.
Skidmore also wants to remind the public that if anyone ever has suspicions of animal abuse happening near them, to call them at 361-826-4630, or police. You can remain anonymous.
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