Two charged with animal cruelty, PVAS deals with influx

MCALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Two women were charged with more than 90 counts of animal cruelty Monday.

The animals were found in a McAllen home Saturday morning. They were transported to Palm Valley Animal Society.

PVAS was overwhelmed by the influx of so many animals at once.

Director of Operations, Faith Wright said this is the largest number of animals she's seen taken from one house during her time in the Rio Grande Valley.

“So I’ve been here for two years and this, I’ve not seen this before here," Wright said. "We have gotten, you know, like ten dogs from one house, things like that, but this is definitely the first time in my two years that we’ve seen something like ninety dogs and a cat.”

Wright said that at least once a month, the organization deals with people who have a dozen or more animals in their possession.

It can be difficult to figure out what someone's motives might be when it comes to the number of animals they have.

“I’d like to be able to give a reason, I really would. But I can’t speculate on why somebody would have ninety dogs," said Wright. "You know ten, twelve, you’re trying to help. You get overwhelmed. I’m not sure how you get to ninety."

The animals appear to be well-fed, several are spayed or neutered, but not microchipped. Wright said that's unusual because both procedures will typically happen at the same time. Wright said they seem to be doing well medically, her only concern is their physical health. Their coats are over matted and some aren't able to walk because their fur is so overgrown.

Wright added it's been hard to determine where the animals came from. Very few are microchipped, so it's almost impossible to match them up with owners who have lost their pets.

“A lot of people are coming forward saying, I lost my dog two years ago, I think it’s this dog. We don’t have any proof of that. The dogs don't look like they look in the pictures they're showing us. And they all are going out to grooming, so when they come back they're not going to look like the pictures they have on their phone," Wright said.

PVAS had scheduled a $5 microchip special for Monday, before the events of this past weekend. Wright wants to use this situation to remind the public about the importance of getting your pets microchipped and that there is a 100% chance of getting your lost pet back if they have one.

Palm Valley is continuing to work with groomers off-site and at its facility to get the animals cleaned up. After, they can get a better health assessment of each animal before they're confronted with another similar incident.