Dogs found severely neglected in Anderson County; officials looking for those responsible

ANDERSON COUNTY, Ky. (ABC 36 NEWS NOW) — two dogs in Anderson county are recovering in a foster home, after being found over the weekend.
Officials with Anderson County Animal Care and Control are looking for their previous owners, hoping to hold them accountable for the severe neglect the animals have endured.

“I’ve been doing this for 12 years and I’ve never seen a flea infestation so bad on a dog and I felt so bad and it took everything I had in me not to, just to just scream out loud and in tears because, you know, there is so many options for people today,” recalls Zach Cotton with Anderson County Animal Care and Control.

Meg Barger the current foster mom of Madea and Harold, adding, “their condition is one of the probably top five being unable to fully use her back legs, which originally we thought that she couldn’t use her back legs at all. So finding out that she can walk and things since being in my home is, is miraculous, but seeing their condition is, is pretty, pretty pitiful.”

Barger is a foster dog mom with KY Hopeful Paws Rescue.

Over the weekend, Madea and her brother Harold were reported to animal care and control, who then took them into their facility.
The dogs were then posted to social media to try to find their owners to hold them accountable.
But instead Barger volunteered to foster them back to a health.

“I’d love to take them in, give them the care they need for however long because we didn’t know if this lady was gonna make it at that point, and lo and behold and that they came to me, we met at the vet clinic there and, we took them home and they’ve been great ever since,” she adds.

Both were found suffering from extreme fleas, in the case of Madea, a senior dog, she has limited mobility in her hind legs.

“They had said, she’s in bad shape. We should probably put her down after a week to get, put her out of her misery. But ever since being at my house, she’s proved us wrong,” Barger recalled.

Madea and Harold have been inseparable, with Harold giving hope to those with animal care and control.
As for those responsible for the neglect, “we’re actively looking, not just in Anderson County but surrounding counties to see if there’s any leads,” added Cotton.

Zach sends a message to those who may end up in a situation where they may need to surrender an animal, “give shelters and rescues time to figure it out, just like you’re actively looking, we’re actively trying to help, and unfortunately there’s not enough space in your smaller shelters or your smaller rescues to take everything in at one time, so be patient.”

If anyone has tips on who could’ve neglected Madea or Harold, contact animal care and control you can also do so anonymously, you can call them at (502) 839-6410.

You can also apply to become a foster parent, or volunteer by clicking here.

There is also an ongoing GoFundMe for the care of Madea and Harold, you can donate by clicking here.

To learn more about KY Hopeful Paws Rescue, click here.