HES of Chattanooga to receive animals rescued from extreme hoarding case in Arkansas

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee (WDEF) – 11 of 46 dogs rescued from what has been described as an extreme case of hoarding in Arkansas are being transported to the Humane Educational Society of Chattanooga.

HES of Chattanooga is an emergency placement partner of the United States Humane Educational Society. According to HES of Chattanooga Executive Director, Bob Citrullo, The US Humane Educational Society reached out to Chattanooga for help after assisting with the removal of 46 dogs from a property in Jefferson County Arkansas.

According to authorities, those dogs were in terrible shape.

“Loss of hair, not social, very sick and full of parasites; you name it and they’ve got it. We’ve agreed with  HSUS to take in 11 of the 46 dogs. We’ve had a very good success rate over the last handful of years working with these types of animals,” Citrullo said.

A year and a half ago, the Chattanooga HES was asked to get involved with an animal rescue in Sequatchie County that also  involved animals in very bad condition.

“All of those animals were adopted. The last two dogs took us up to 18 months to get them placed but we did very good,” Citrullo said.

Citrullo’s goal is to repeat that success when the Arkansas dogs arrive by not only taking care of medically but also rehabbing the animals and eventually finding them new homes.

The dogs are expected to arrive in Chattanooga on Tuesday. Citrullo told News 12 there will be a media event planned to welcome the animals as they arrive and to generate enough interest in people who may want to adopt the animals.