STUART, Fla. — Fourteen dogs, seven cats and seven chickens were rescued from a man's home in Stuart. The Martin County Sheriff's Office turned all 28 animals over to the Humane Society of the Treasure Coast.
"They were not in poor shape, surprisingly, considering the conditions," Martin County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy John Budensiek said.
The animals were found living with a 75-year-old Stuart man who is accused of using his pets to lure children to his home.
"The majority of (the animals) were in decent condition. Some of them were in pretty bad shape," Humane Society of the Treasure Coast communications manager Sarah Fisher added. "We had one dog that actually had a broken leg that was healed over and so the dog's leg is actually curved like a U."
Fisher said they'll stay there for a minimum of 10 days or pending the investigation. In the meantime, they're calling on the community for donations.
"We're going to need chicken food," Fisher said. "We're going to need wet dog and cat food, and we're going to need perches for birds."
She said animal hoarding situations like this one only put more pressure on already limited resources. She explains the animal shelter is at capacity.
"Yesterday, just in one day, we had over 40 animals surrendered to our shelter," Fisher said.
Keri Burgess with "The Farm Dog Rescue" in Palm City was horrified to hear what happened.
"It's concerning, I mean from a rescue standpoint," Burgess said. "We've had multiple on the Treasure Coast in the last few months."
Burgess' rescue organization took in several dogs following another animal hoarding problem in Fort Pierce. She's seen firsthand how much stress these animals undergo in these situations.
"It's taken weeks and weeks and weeks to get them to a place where they can even be happy and adjusted," she said.
The Humane Society of the Treasure Coast has similar concerns about the emotional stress of these animals going forward. They said, for now, they'll do what they can to provide them the best care.