CARROLLTON, Va. (WAVY) — Authorities took a shocking 44 animals away from one home on Smith’s Neck Road in Carrollton Wednesday afternoon. The Isle of Wight County Sheriff’s Office said the search warrant for the seizure came after they received multiple tips of animal breeding and selling by the homeowner.
They said most of the animals were small and large dogs ranging from Yorkies and Toy Poodles to Dobermans and Wolf Hybrids.
Four mini horses and one adult horse were also taken from the residence.
The entire situation took neighbors like Danielle Hewitt by surprise.
“As an animal lover, I know whatever it is, it’s serious,” Hewitt said. “It has to be neglect of some kind that to me, living out here 20 years, I’ve never seen — not that many.”
She told 10 On Your Side while it’s common for people in the area to have horses, she’s never seen anything like what happened that day.
“I had friends who actually stored their horses who reside in Newport News there, and they would come over here and ride,” Hewitt said. “So, it is common, but not in a residential property.”
Authorities said many of the animals are thin and are believed to have some variation of parasitic infections.
“It’s sad because a lot of people, they take them, and they just want to breed them or sell them and get money really quick,” she said. “And if they can’t, it’s really sad.”
As far as next steps, the sheriff’s office said there will be a custody hearing in 10 days to relinquish ownership of the animals.
They hope to have them in shelters by the end of the week.
“They need to definitely make sure that if they had animals — it’s just like a child, you don’t leave them in a hot car, you feed them, you care for them, you love them, you nurture them.”
Authorities said pending healthy exams, they’ll be asking the public for their help in fostering the abused animals.