12:26 p.m. Wednesday
The total number of dogs found has climbed to 141, according to Tennessee investigators who did a count overnight.
One of the dogs found was dead, and there was also a cat found.
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9:03 p.m. Tuesday
A Southwest Virginia link is emerging to the seizure of more than 100 dogs in a minivan and U-Haul truck outside of Memphis, Tennessee on Tuesday.
Our NBC affiliate WMC-TV in Memphis reports agents with the West Tennessee Drug Task Force pulled over a U-Haul truck towing a minivan, on Interstate 40 around noon (EST). According to a news release, the agents saw 25 animals in the minivan by themselves, with no food or water. WMC-TV reports that one of the dogs was dead.
That discovery led to an additional investigation, and the agents found more than 100 dogs, along with one cat, locked inside the cargo area of the U-Haul truck. The agents described the scene as some animals were in cages, but many others were loose. Agents saw urine and feces all over the cargo area, but no food or water for the pets.
WMC reports in total 128 dogs were found in the minivan and U-Haul truck.
Officers arrested the driver, 55-year-old Bonnie Sheehan, and her passenger 59-year-old Pamela King-McCracken. Both women are charged with aggravated animal cruelty. Investigators say the pets should not have been transported as they were.
During an initial court appearance in Fayette County, TN on Tuesday, WMC reports that the women were given $100,000 bond each.
Investigators said Sheehan and King-McCracken showed them California identifications, and said they were driving from Long Beach, California to Virginia.
According to the Long Beach Press Telegram, Sheehan founded an animal rescue group called Hearts For Hounds in 1997, and it was originally based in Long Beach, CA. The article adds that authorities said the women told them they were moving from Long Beach to Roanoke.
The Hearts For Hounds website lists:
- The organization is now in Virginia
- Lists multiple pictures of dogs up for adoption in Roanoke
- An "emergency situation" has delayed the group's opening
- A welcoming event set for January 21, at the group's farm in Huddleston
- Request for donations to help with the move
Tuesday evening, the Hearts For Hounds website listed an address of 1416 Campbell Avenue SW, Roanoke, VA 24016. By 9:30 p.m. (EST) Tuesday night, that address had been removed from the website's 'contact' page. WSLS has a screenshot with the webpage before and after the Roanoke address removal.
According to the Long Beach Press Telegram, an employee at Long Beach Kennel and Groom Co., next door to the Hearts For Hounds' California address, said Sheehan loaded up the last of the dogs into her vehicles this past Sunday. The employee added that Hearts For Hounds had money problems due to the economy, and could no longer keep dogs at the kennel.
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