Yesterday I volunteered at this site in Denver and believe me, it was like something I've never seen before. I cleaned crates and food bowls, fed, walked, played, and snuggled with dogs that really needed it. It was quite an experience. There are lots of volunteers, but they desperately need more people to pitch in and help out. If you or anyone that you know has some spare time, it really is time well spent.
From Huntersville: I77N, L on Exit 25/Sam Furr Road/73, R on Hwy 16 for about 6 miles. There is a BB&T on the right side of the road and the animals are housed directly across the street in a large, abandoned factory.
It took about 20 minutes from Huntersville. So worth it!!!
READ BELOW FOR DETAILS:
Dear Rescues & Animal Lovers ~
This is Update #6 (Wednesday, Sept 3rd) from the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department regarding the 400+ animals who were confiscated during the raid on a private residence in Denver, NC last week. There have been volunteers there 24/7 for the last 7 days.
Many of the animals have made a huge change for the better. Most seem to be settling in and enjoying the beginning of their new life and not having to live in filth or fight for food or water. Most of these dogs have never been leash walked or played with toys. For many of the on-site volunteers and workers, seeing these animals happy, clean, fed and safe has been the most rewarding part of all. This is a new beginning for them and each of you who are helping in some way have been a tremendous part in making this happen for them.
Unfortunately, they have not had enough volunteers on-site for the past 3 days and it has been very stressful for those working on-site. If you have any time to spare, please consider volunteering some time even if it is just one day or one half of a day. Thank you to each of you who has taken time to drive up there and spend some time helping. It has been very much appreciated by the other volunteers and, of course, the animals.
25 to 30 Volunteers per shift are needed DAILY to help with feeding the animals and exercising the dogs!
The number of volunteers needed will go down as more animals are placed in foster care, but for now the dogs and cats cannot be released into foster care at this point. While many of the animals have been moved off-site and into foster care (ducks, exotic birds, chickens, reptile, some rabbits, etc.), there are still hundreds of (mostly) dogs, cats and rabbits in need of daily care from 8 a.m. to 8p.m. for the next 2-4 weeks.
There are also some volunteers spending the night from 8 pm to 8 am. and they are camping inside the warehouse and caring for the animals throughout the night. If you are interested in working this shift, please let us know and the on-site coordinator from American Humane contact you.
Please ask your friends, neighbors and co-workers if they can spare some time. Maybe your company will give you a day to help on its behalf?
In addition, they are also in dire need of experienced dog handlers and volunteers who understand animal behavior to help.
Groomers are a plus, too!
Most importantly, the Lincoln County Animal Control is in need of financial donations to help cover the cost of vetting 400+ animals. If you are able to help in that way, please keep reading as that information is below.
On a side note, Carolina Waterfowl has requested volunteers to help with all the birds they have taken into foster care (ducks and chickens). They need help feeding and hosing out their cages daily. They are located in the Matthews area off Hwy 51. Jennifer Gordon (president of this group) said, "They just seem happy to have food. It's funny watching ducks bathe that have never seen clean water. They didn't know what to think about it. Eventually most dove in. Some of them haven't quite braved the pool yet to bathe. The rooster and some of the ducks played king of the mountain on the food dish. They all wanted to stand on top of the pile of food. It looked like they were saying: This 20 pounds of food is mine all mine!" Jennifer can be reached at: waterfowlrescue@aol.com
All instructions regarding the animals on-site in Denver, NC are below. Thanks to all those who took time out of their weekend to go up and help in any way!
The Lincoln County Sheriff's Department has asked that anyone wanting to volunteer please just come to the site. Standard volunteer hours have been between 8 a.m.- 8 p.m. sometimes running later before the nightshift security takes over. They will not turn anyone away who may show up to help. Their main concern is to have enough volunteers during the weekdays to carry them through until more of the animals can be moved into foster care. If you are interested in working the nightshift from 8pm to 8am, please let us know.
NONE of the dogs and cats will be released for adoption at this point, but we will keep you updated.
We do not have an inventory list yet either and that will not be made public immediately. Many of the dogs have never even been leash walked before and are not ready to be adopted. Please understand that this is a very fluid situation and the needs to run this operation will change daily.
The American Humane Association (based in Colorado) had volunteers who flew and drove in last week to help remove all the animals and get the warehouse set up and operational. They have a tremendous amount of experience handling these type of situations and have done a fantastic job working in conjunction with the Sheriff's Department. However, the American Humane Association volunteers will not be staying more than another week or so and it is the Lincoln County Sheriff's office and the AHA's hope that they will have enough volunteers (especially some in leadership roles) scheduled to carry them through the next 2-4 weeks. If you have not yet signed up, please read below.
VOLUNTEERS - Please come today and in the following days between 8 a.m. through 8 p.m. The Sheriff's office would like for us (SPCA) to continue taking names and contact information along with days and times that people could volunteer. We have been giving the Sheriff's office daily updated volunteer lists and may also be calling on volunteers to request their assistance in the upcoming days/weeks if they do not have enough people showing up to help.
If you are able to volunteer some time to help, please email me: your name, phone # and city/state you live, and the type of help you can offer so we can continue to give this list to the Lincoln County Sherriff's office. They will continue to be in need of volunteers who are experienced with handling animals to help care for them at this holding facility in many different ways throughout the next 2-4 weeks until they can be moved into foster care or permanent home. They have been the busiest and need the most help during feeding times (8 am-noon and 4pm - 8pm).
RESCUE GROUPS - If you are with a rescue group and you may want to foster some of the animals, please email me your contact information, group's name, address, and the # and type of animal(s) you would be willing to foster, if any.
SUPPLIES - They do have an immediate need for industrial size fans to help cool down the animals, volunteers and the interior of the warehouse. They could also use some snacks for the volunteers (water and non-refrigerated food). The supply list will change constantly, but they will have an on-going need for pet food, litter, bedding, towels, blankets, sheets, pet shampoo, cleaning supplies, paper towels, buckets, hand sanitizer, etc... Please do not bring opened bags of pet food. You may want to bring some water and snacks for yourself as we are unsure as to what the Lincoln County officials are providing volunteers on a day to day basis.
MONETARY DONATIONS - They are always in need of monetary donations and all monetary donations will go toward medical expense and supplies which are not covered in Lincoln County Sheriff's office budget. Anyone who wants to donate financially can go to any of the three First Federal Banks in Lincoln County (Lincolnton - 320 East Main St) (Boger City - 2763 East Hwy 27) (Denver - 2074 N Hwy 16) and earmark the money for "Noah's Ark". Or, you can send a check to the SPCA Alliance, P.O. Box 30484, Charlotte, NC. 28230 and put "Denver, NC" in the memo section. We have set up a temporary account for these animals and will be turning over all funds designated for them to the Sheriff's office. We are a 501c3 non-profit.
LOCATION - The building the animals are being temporarily housed is an abandoned factory building owned by R-ANELL (a mobile home factory). There is no street # on the building, but there is a BB&T bank and Baptist church across the street. Below is a link to the BB&T, but PLEASE DO NOT GO into the bank. Look across the street when you get there and you may not be able to immediately see the old R-ANELL factory as there is a hill in front of it. For security purposes, they do not have any signage outside alerting volunteers to the entrance.
Here are the closest directions: N Highway 16, Denver, NC 28037
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=BB%26T,+Denver+NC&fb=1&view=text&latlng=8063888415607365776
If you are heading north on Hwy 16 in Denver you will see a fruit stand marked Hwy 16 Produce. Use this as a landmark. The BB&T Bank noted above is just after it. Across the street, you will see two gates at the front of the factory. One will be locked the other will be open. There may some type of security or check in there. If not, just drive around to the back of the building to park. Please check in entrance so they can assign you to help.
PLEASE DO NOT BRING YOUR CHILDREN - Anyone under 18 years of age will not be allowed to work with the animals for liability reasons.
YOUR CLOTHING & PERSONAL ITEMS - Please dress appropriately (no air-conditioning inside the facility). Be prepared to get dirty and bring a change of clothing and old shoes. You may also want to bring boots and a towel to dry off in case you help wash some of the animals. Please be sure to have proper Identification (drivers license or 2 forms of I.D.).
Our director, Ron Simons, and I would like to thank everyone for their response to this situation. This situation is being conducted as a disaster and, while it is not a natural disaster like a hurricane, it is what we term a man-made disaster. To make this run efficiently, there are protocols set in place and the Lincoln County Sheriff's office is the lead command. Sometimes these protocols get in the way of our hearts and we don't understand them, but they are in place to assure the efficiency of the operational situation and the safety of the animals and volunteers.
This is not going to be a 1-2 day operation. It could easily go on for the next 30 days or so and the animals and Lincoln County officials are going to need our help for the long haul.
Thank you all for your response, volunteerism, and concerns. Please continue to monitor your emails so we can stay in touch with updates.
If you have any questions, please call the director, Ron Simons, at 704-533-0864
SARA D'AMICO
Broker/REALTOR/ABR
Keller Williams Realty
704-287-6488
SaraD@kw.com
www.BuyandSellwithSara.com
