Jan 19, 2008 7:56 pm US/Pacific
400 Animals Rescued From 'Deplorable' Ranch
LANCASTER (CBS) ―
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Animal rescue workers found hundreds of animals in need of help.
CBS
Hundreds of neglected animals found on a ranch in Lancaster were being rescued Saturday.
The sick animals -- including both farm animals and dogs -- were discovered earlier this week, and some had to be euthanized, CBS 2's Suraya Fadel reported.
The man who brought the animals to the ranch lived in a camper trailer and was nowhere to be found, the TV station reported.
"When we walked in there were some dogs dead in a wheelbarrow," Jay Weiner of The Gentle Barn Rescue Staff told CBS2. "There were babies, puppies, that were dead in some of the stalls. The chickens had come over and flown into some of the stalls and they were half eaten in there, and the dog cages, the dogs had no food and no water and very poor shelter. It was very very cold -- it's been cold, it's been below 30 degrees every night -- so the waters come in and there's two inches of ice."
Some of the dogs were pregnant, and several nonprofit animal groups are helping out with the animal rescue and cleaning up the ranch, according to a report filed by Suraya Fadel.
The animal groups said they hope that residents will adopt some of the animals.
All the animals were in need of medical attention, and most were taken to Animal Acres in Acton, Ellie Laks of The Gentle Barn told The Signal newspaper in the Santa Clarita Valley.
They will be quarantined until veterinarians can examine the animals, she said.
"Many of the animals had no water and no food," Laks told the newspaper. "We just found gasoline in the small amount of water left for the dogs. This is an enormous undertaking and we need volunteers desperately."
The animals included 30 cats, 40 chickens and turkeys, 100 goats and sheep, a llama, an emu, a pregnant horse, three potbellied pigs and a 600-pound farm pig. Many of the animals were pregnant, Laks said.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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