FLAGSTAFF (AZFamily): Animal shelters handle all kinds of cases, from standard dogs to livestock and even fish.
However, a few months back, one shelter in the high country received an unusual call for more than a dozen exotic rescues. Now, they need help finding the right placements for the remaining ones.
It’s always busy at High Country Humane Society just outside of Flagstaff.
Interim Shelter Director Tresban Rivera said they’re always taking care of dozens of animals at a time. Unfortunately, taking in animals from cruelty cases is nothing new.
“When you’re dealing with a cruelty case, you are often seeing animals that are not in the best shape, so we have to make plans there for the best care for them,” Rivera said.
In February, they got a rare call: 18 exotic animals were being seized from a home and headed their way.
“Then it was all hands on deck because this was a big case,” Rivera said
There were 10 dogs, 4 cats, and 4 birds. All were purebred or exotics, the type of animals you pay thousands for and not typically found in the shelter.
“We don’t know all of the conditions they were in,” Rivera said. “We know it was very rough.”
The team spent hours with each animal to help them get healthy and happy again.
“It’s very hard to get them sometimes to get back to acting even like a dog again, you know, just having that confidence,” Rivera said
Now there are only four dogs left, but Rivera said there are challenges in making sure the dogs go to the right home, like proper space.
While it’s a lot of hard work, she said getting them into their forever home makes it all worth it.
“We are celebrating with them and applauding them as they leave with their new family,” Rivera said. “That’s when we are the happiest.”
For more information on how to adopt these dogs or other animals at the shelter, you can visit their website here.
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