More than a dozen dogs found chained, abandoned in Washington County

By Casey Nolen

KSDK -- A Washington County, Missouri community says dozens of dogs have been left unattended for months and now two of them have died.

People in the area just outside of Caledonia say the dogs have been on their own since October 2008 and now that two dogs are dead, they are hoping someone or some agency will step in and help. Neighbors say the property where the dogs are chained up is unattended.

It is also in a low-lying area and flooded during last week's rains. People think two of the dogs drowned because their chains kept them from getting to higher ground.

People who live nearby say they check in on the animals as often as they can, and even feed them when they can. But they say whoever owns the dogs did neither.

It is hard to tell what kind of condition the more than dozen dogs are in, but there is no sign of any water for them to drink.

Neighbors say they have had a hard time getting any agency to help with the problem.

And now that two of the dogs have died, and are not buried, they are concerned disease could spread.

"You've got the dogs lying dead over there and chickens running around -- there's going to be diseases," says Cecelia Williams, who looks in on the dogs.

"I'm scared to death for these poor dogs," she says. "The heat is coming and they were out here in the winter as it was freezing and now they're going to be out here again in the heat."

Williams says she and others have tried to get help for the animals for months.

On Tuesday, the Humane Society of Missouri says they are sending an investigator to the site, and pointed out it is often hard to get help for animals in rural communities.

So far NewsChannel 5 has not been able to track down the owner of the dogs.