As our Animal Rescue Team entered a wooded property in rural South Carolina last week, they prepared themselves for what they would find there.
The team had met up with the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office and Charleston Animal Society to help with an alleged animal cruelty situation.
What they found on the property was nothing less than heartbreaking.
Meredith Lee/Humane World for Animals
Dogs on chains affixed to the ground were left standing in inches of stagnant water from recent rainfall. Their paws were inflamed—indicating these conditions had persisted for weeks—and they seemed to wince from pain, while tadpoles swam in the waste-contaminated water.
Overturned barrels and makeshift structures served as their only source of protection from intense heat or heavy rain.
In kennels, 15 puppies clamored to greet our team.
Meredith Lee/Humane World for Animals
While this case is characterized as an alleged animal cruelty case, the investigation is ongoing. The conditions our team saw that day are consistent with what we’ve seen time and again in dogfighting cases.
In all, they rescued 42 dogs and puppies. The dogs and puppies are now safe in our care, receiving veterinary treatment and TLC as they begin their road to recovery.
The relationships that made this dog rescue possible
As the tenth South Carolina property our team has helped law enforcement officials rescue dogs from since last summer, the scene has become all too familiar to responders. While each rescue operation contains unique heartbreak, they also offer hope, not only to the animals who get a second chance, but also to our team who sees the incredible impact we can have when our direct response, advocacy and training efforts come together.
Meredith Lee/Humane World for Animals
Officers with the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office have participated in numerous trainings from our Law Enforcement Training Center in recent years. Part of our animal advocacy is supporting people who can defend the voiceless. At these trainings, we provide officers with the tools and knowledge to conduct effective animal crime investigations.
Throughout the state of South Carolina, we have provided over 70 trainings to 20,000 law enforcement professionals since 2021. Berkeley County officers, in particular, have participated in key investigation courses on veterinary forensics, large-scale neglect and animal cruelty and fighting. We are proud to offer these trainings at no cost to agencies throughout the United States.
Meredith Lee/Humane World for Animals
How the law supports animal rescues like this one
In 2024, lawmakers unanimously passed a cost of care law that makes our recent rescues in South Carolina possible. Before this law took effect, we had heard from officers in our law enforcement trainings that it was extremely difficult to pursue large-scale neglect and cruelty cases because state agencies were required to hold seized animals for months—even years—while criminal cases were prosecuted. This imposed a prohibitive cost on state agencies, as well as animal protection organizations and South Carolina taxpayers.
The cost of care law changed that. This measure requires that the owner of animals seized by law enforcement agencies either pay for animal care or relinquish the animals so they have a chance at being adopted. For this reason, we advocate for cost of care legislation in states throughout the U.S. to remove that significant obstacle in the enforcement of animal protection laws and to give animals a chance at finding homes earlier on in the process.
Meredith Lee/Humane World for Animals
Tackling animal cruelty from all angles
The Berkeley County case shows what’s unique about our approach to helping animals. We don’t just provide boots on the ground assistance to rescue animals from crisis situations, but we also work to enact the strong legal protections for animals that make these rescues possible. And we provide law enforcement agencies with the tools and training needed to understand the harms of animal cruelty and how they can effectively reduce it.
As the dogs from this case begin their recovery, healing their physical and emotional wounds, we will continue working toward a world in which animals like these sweet pups would never find themselves suffering such cruelty in the first place.
Kitty Block is president and CEO of Humane World for Animals. Follow Kitty Block.
