Dozens of neglected dogs ,cats, and goats rescued from Barry County home

CASSVILLE, Mo. (KY3) - Barry county deputies rescued abandoned several animals inside a home outside of Cassville. The rescue happened at a home off State highway 86.

Timothy Rich was on a camping trip with his family when three dogs ran out in front of his car. Rich and his wife pulled over and tried to move the dogs away from the road. When they got a closer look, they noticed the animal’s fur was falling out and was covered in ticks and fleas.

“And I could tell that they weren’t being taken care of. So I went ahead and called cause there’s bones and carcasses in the yard,” said Rich.

When deputies arrived to investigate, they went inside the trailer on the property and what they found was unbelievable.

“He went in, and he actually opened the door to the trailer. And I looked in and it was nothing but cages with fur and bones inside of them. After I saw that,I left I just couldn’t take it,” said Rich.

Officers found several carcasses throughout the property. Nine dogs, one cat, and 14 goats were rescued.

“It was like hell on earth” is how Haven of the Ozarks Director Wesley Farris described what he saw when deputies asked him to help rescue the neglected animals.

“We took our van over to the property and then and started catching dogs. It was a really awful situation, trash piled up, you know, really high and decaying animals. The animals that we did catch were full of fleas and ticks and mange and you know severely abused,” said Farris

Farris said that he saw several goat skulls in a pile on the property.

“It was so bad, it was almost creepy to me to see that it’s, you know, you see stuff like that and you just like you can’t believe it”

The owner of the property died last year. Since then, the property has been in probate. This case is under investigation.

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