In October 2020, the Seattle Animal Shelter (SAS) faced one of the largest animal abuse cases in its history. More than 220 animals, including dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens, mice and chinchilla, were rescued from a West Seattle property after SAS’s animal control team had been called to investigate. An equal number of deceased animals were also found onsite.
“I’ve been with the shelter for over 22 years and that is by far the worst house I’ve been in,” said Don Baxter, manager of field services for SAS. Inside, the smell of ammonia (caused by urine buildup) was so overwhelming, Baxter said his head was pounding. “There were deceased animals inside; there were deceased animals outside, in cages with other animals. It was like a Hollywood horror story where you think there’s no way this is real. It took weeks for me to get over what I saw in that house. It stayed with me when I tried to sleep at night.”
Approximately 95% of SAS’s animal cruelty rescues are made thanks to concerned citizens making those concerns known. All it took to rescue more than 200 animals was one person making a simple call. But not everyone knows what to look for or what to do.
Here are the five most common signs of animal cruelty and hoarding, and how citizens can help—directly from expert Don Baxter:
1. Animals left in hot cars.
“Our highest priority in the summer is animals that are locked in hot cars. We view those as emergency situations because it does not take that long for an animal to overheat and die inside of a locked hot car. Even on a breezy day, it can get up to 100 degrees inside a vehicle. We try to reach the owner if we can get ahold of them. But if not, we have had to break windows and remove animals. A lot of times, we’ll have to have police assistance; though, it’s not illegal to leave your animal in the car. But on a hot day, if the dog is panting severely, or it has vomited, those are signs that it’s in distress—and that is an absolute call that should be made to us. People think, ‘I’m only running into the store for just a few minutes,’ and sometimes that’s all it takes. Also, when a dog is sitting outside in the sun without shade or a bowl of water, a neighbor should be calling us to let us know. This is when we try to educate people because it could turn out tragic if they don’t provide the care.”
2. Too many pets.
“Unsanitary living conditions and animal hoarding often go hand-in-hand. If your neighbor has 10 dogs, they could take care of them perfectly. There may be no issues, but 10 dogs produce a lot of poo, and sometimes it’s hard to keep up on. Those are things we just want to look out for. The city does have a limit on the number of animals that can be kept on a property. There are some exceptions regarding the size of the property, but typically, it’s three dogs or three cats. If you see lots of animals going in and out of the house, give us a call.”
3. Unsanitary living conditions.
“If an owner isn’t scooping up after their pet(s), over time it starts to become a situation in which the animals are living in unsanitary conditions. There’s an ordinance that says they have to pick up pet waste every 24 hours. We’ve seen cases where they let it go for weeks, if not months, and then that becomes an animal cruelty situation. Those are the hard cases to track down. They’re hard to report because a lot of times those are individuals who aren’t having visitors, so people can’t see. It’s going to be more challenging for a neighbor or someone just passing by to see that happening if it’s out in the backyard or especially what’s happening inside the house. But typically, you’re going to see tons of flies around the house. It will smell. We’ve gone to houses where there are multiple pets inside and feces everywhere. If you see multiple animals inside the windows, excessive noise and barking complaints, that’s an indicator that issues are going on. It’s not always the case, but those are things to think about.”
4. Unsafe winter living conditions.
“In the winter, there are a lot of things to look out for if you see animals outside. Doghouses, for example—are they falling apart or non-existent? If it’s freezing temperatures outside, their water bowl is likely going to freeze. People should be bringing their pets inside when it gets to be freezing temperatures. However, the breed of the dog is something to consider. A husky or malamute is going to do a lot better in the winter than a little terrier who has no winter coat or body fat and it’s shivering. In the winter, we also see a lot of drainage in the yard. The dog might be perfectly fine up there in the summer; in the winter, when we get several days’ worth of rain, all of a sudden dog house is inundated with freezing water. An animal may also be losing weight in the winter because they’re working harder to stay warm. A dog needs more calories in the winter. Those are all things that a neighbor would be able to see and tell us about. This is, again, where we like to educate people.”
5. Physical abuse.
If someone is driving down the street and sees someone punching on their pet, they should immediately call us or 911. Any time of year, we need to respond to that immediately. Those are things that should absolutely be reported. If someone didn’t see the abuse but there are wounds, cuts, open sores that are not being treated, that could sign of physical abuse. Pet owners are required to provide medical care for their pet(s). If you see abuse, don’t engage because you don’t know how that person is going to react. But try to give the dispatcher as much information as possible. What road were they on? Which way were they heading? If you can get a license plate number, we can track that down. Even if we have the general area, we can narrow it down. What were they wearing? What did they look like? What did their dog look like? Was the dog cowering? Was it making any reactions? Did it yelp? Was it in pain? Those are the types of things to keep an eye out for.”
What to do:
If you live in the Seattle area and you think an animal is suffering, it’s super easy to help them. Simply save this number to your phone: 206-386-PETS (7387). This will connect you directly with SAS’s animal control dispatch unit. If you have a life-threatening situation involving both humans and animals, call the Seattle Police Department at 911.
Alternatively, you can visit www.seattle.gov/animal-shelter/animal-control to file a complaint online. Even if you’re unsure about what’s happening, don’t hesitate to report your concerns. Dispatchers are more than happy to talk through the situation with you and provide you with information and assurance.
“Trust your instincts,” said Baxter. “If you see something that doesn’t look right, it might not be. It may be fine, but at least you said something. The person that reported that case in October didn’t know the extent of everything. They just called and said something didn’t quite look right to them. But that was exactly what we needed. Unfortunately, those animals lived in that condition for a long time. It wasn’t something that happened just over a weekend. Maybe people that walked past that house were focused on their walk or weren’t paying that close attention or didn’t see something that jumped out to them. But there were also some people that probably walked by and saw something but maybe felt, ‘It’s none of my business.’ People need to make it their business. Because an animal could be suffering.”