PENNSYLVANIA, USA — Cases of animal cruelty, like the two abused dogs seized from a Lancaster County home last week, are going up across south central Pennsylvania.
“The conditions some of these dogs are in…it’s soul-crushing," said Janine Guido of Speranza Animal Rescue in Cumberland County.
Guido explains the emotional toll and says demand in general is through the roof.
“Our organization alone gets at least 100 emails a week to take dogs, just dogs," she said.
At the York County SPCA, which has its own humane officer, it’s a similar story.
Executive director Steven Martinez says there’s been an increase in abandonment charges.
“Some of that is because people can’t afford to care for the animals they adopted during the pandemic and we’re also seeing a lot of unsanitary conditions," he said.
In 2017, Libre’s Law was signed into law in Pennsylvania, which increases penalties for those who commit crimes against animals.
But even still, shelters say the laws can be hard to enforce.
“There’s just a big difference between what we can legally enforce in terms of animal cruelty and neglect and what any person would consider best practice on how you should properly care for animals," Martinez explained.
What they’re trying to do is build connections within the community to ultimately help the animals.
“We’re creating stronger relationships with the local police departments so they know to contact us when they’re coming across these cases," said Martinez.
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