Rescues and shelters suffering from hoarding and overcrowding crisis

LEXINGTON, Ky. ( FOX 56 ) — Anita Spreitzer, vice president and general manager of Paws-4-the-Cause, said “The pandemic started a perfect storm because people and I hate to blame it on that, but we saw it coming as rescue.”

Earlier this year the Kentucky State Police Department released the annual crime report for 2023 . The report showed a 35 percent uptick in animal cruelty cases. Leaders with Paws 4 the Cause, an animal protection non-profit, the problem is only worsening.

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“But it’s just it’s really disheartening as a rescue person right now to be in the middle of this crisis. And it’s not even just here. It’s all across the United States. We’re hearing these numbers,” said Spreitzer

The latest blow to rescue workers came on Aug. 9 when the Garrard County Sheriff’s Office arrested 64-year-old Dennis Kirkpatrick on more than 60 counts of second-degree animal cruelty and a felony count of torture of a dog.

Kirkpatrick had held more than 80 dogs in a house the police had reportedly deemed uninhabitable, due to living conditions being “deplorable.”

Spreitzer said it seems like these cases are never-ending.

“I don’t know where the end is in sight. You know, all we do is pray every day that there is an end in sight. But we don’t know where it’s going to lie. And major changes need to be done here in Kentucky. Major changes need to be done in all the areas where we don’t have those strict spade and neuter laws, but I don’t see an end in sight. I wish I did,” said Spritzer.

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Paws 4 the Cause said right now animal advocacy groups across the Commonwealth are working very closely with the Garrard County animal shelter, supplying food and other essentials the dogs and those caring for them might need.

But Spreitzer said all shelters and rescues need public help, whether it’s in the form of volunteers, time, or money.

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