If you are a pet owner and you left your animal chained up during Hurricane Irma, guess what? You could be facing some fairly severe charges as a result of your negligent behavior.
Sadly, at least 50 dogs were found still chained to cars and trees when rescuers arrived on the scene when Hurricane Irma made landfall. Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control received numerous calls alerting them to this unfortunate situation.
BREAKING UPDATE: Animal Control says they will rescue several dogs left alone during #HurricaneIrma. WFLA Melissa Marino is live with the update. http://bit.ly/2wVBLuA
Posted by WFLA News Channel 8 on Monday, September 11, 2017
The officers who arrived on the scene say that they have already rescued over 40 dogs in two days alone. Many of the dogs were left to fend for themselves inside of homes and others were found chained up in pens that they could not escape from. There is zero excuse for this type of behavior and we are glad to see that the authorities are taking a serious stand about this.
No animal deserves to be left tied up during a storm of any kind, let alone a hurricane. It is illegal in this county of Florida to leave dogs chained up without access to their owners. Considering the circumstances, the owners who are found guilty of this behavior will have be susceptible to felony animal abuse charges. State prosecutors are vowing to track any and all owners responsible for this disgusting behavior.
Animal shelters are now experiencing extreme overcrowding as a result of this mass abandonment. There are a sizable number of dogs who have been rescued from the storm’s aftermath and there are also several dogs who were brought to the shelter in advance of the storm, because their owners did not have the means to offer them a proper evacuation.
Dog owners are now being asked to stop to consider their actions and while there are a number of useful organizations who are willing to assist those who need help, there is no substitute for a well informed pet owner who is ready to do the right thing from the very beginning. If you cannot provide a pet with the proper evacuation, then you are not someone who deserves to own a dog, sorry to say.
The people who put themselves ahead of their pets and left them to die in the storm will soon be forced to face the music. It is time to make an example of these scofflaw types and we fully support the efforts of Florida prosecutors to make sure that they are brought to justice.
Bobby Vega
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Next time save the animals and leave the owners behind MONSTERS
Mario Smith
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Absolutely!
Anita Smets
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Despicable people !
Brenda Kirk
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So they should , stupid lowlife !!!!!
Annie Zwecker
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Only right and proper my dog is the most caring after my family
Patrick N Anne Lease
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good! i hate that
Trudi Elise Lichty
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Yes yes yes God bless this precious baby
Carolyn DeCastro
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good, stupid people, at least unchain them and give them a chance. I just dont understand how people think. If I was in that situation the first thing I would take would be my dog
Jeanette Woodrow
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how they could do this i will never understand, they should all face charges of animal cruelty
Denise Johnson Reagle
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Yes punish to the extent of the law. If I left a human chained to a tree in the midst of a hurricane, you would not be asking this question!!!
Andrea Serra
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They better face criminal charges.
Ann Marie Lynch
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I think the owners should be drowned.
Carol Kopecky
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YES, yes, yes.
Jennifer Wynen Allard
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Thats just disturbing people, get a life.
Janet Pavlick
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Good they should be charged!!!!
Yvonne Pece Schnell
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Chain them and turn all the faucets on!
Rebecca Gray Smith
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How could they do that?? Our pup would be with us where ever we were.
Andrew Ewing
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Good job too
Donna Robertson
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YES
Rita Hanson
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100% YES !!
Edward Crup
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YES
Pat Sheridan
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Yes
Hans Krieger
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yesss
Tracy Cooper Steelman
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HOPE TO GOD hey do
Tracy Cooper Steelman
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They
Sandi Kiser
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YES!!!
Renee Goldstein
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Yes, absolutely yes!!!!
Clemencia Giraldo
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YES
Kathleen Mujica
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Poor baby’s sick People in this world.
Dwayne Flaherty
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What about human babies that are alive and living and have sharp instruments shoved into their skulls to scramble heir brain in a horrid attempt to murder them because they are not convenient for the mom?
What about their lives?
Becky Holland
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So awful!!! Poor dogs!!!! Chain up the owners and let them drown.
Rodrigo Velasques
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Sure!
Brenda Cartee
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Yes
Anna Wild
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Yes its a crime and cruel.
Jane Skipworth
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Yes.
Neacsu Liliana
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Yes Yes Yes !!!!!!!!!
Ann Hancock
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They should be charged with ignorance and crimes against our best friends who would have done everything to protect us if they had to.
Mary Lou
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Jail is to good , they should Rot in Hell !
Dawn Williams
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And they should!!!!!!
Patricia Bingham
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good they need charging they are family
Goanita Jacques
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Yes
Yolanda Cook
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Yes
Dan Kos
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Jail jail fines, public humiliation loss of job then never allowed to own anything again
Pauline Kilham
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Never mind COULD they SHOULD. Be prosecuted.
Dan Kos
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They should also be chained outside for 2 weeks just to make sure they understand what it feels like
Tricia Bath
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Leave them outside chained up.
Charleen Montgomery
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Yep!
Phil Fray
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The owners of these helpless Dogs would be better off if the dog found them instead of me
Pat Piccione-Athanasion
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YES PUNISH THEM. They did not have to chain them. How disgusting!
Amy Sue Abeyta
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Good