Volunteers Working to Rescue Animals in Pontiac

Updated: Tuesday, 07 Dec 2010, 7:57 PM EST
Published : Tuesday, 07 Dec 2010, 7:57 PM EST

By ROOP RAJ
WJBK | myFOXDetroit.com

PONTIAC, Mich. (WJBK) – It is a story that had many of you calling FOX 2 asking how to help. Dogs in Pontiac were found dead and others left starving in the cold. Volunteers are now patrolling the streets in the cash strapped city to help rescue the animals.

FOX 2 first came to a home on the 800 block of Robinwood Street on Sunday. A dog and her two pups were left out in the cold. They seemed hungry. They were shaking. It caused an outrage with our viewers.

Pontiac Police came out Tuesday morning to find that the dogs were no longer at the house.

Pam Porteus with the volunteer group Animal Care Network is the one who discovered the dogs with FOX 2 on Sunday.

“The (complaints) started coming in probably on Friday or Saturday about these dogs being outside with no shelter and being very thin. The police had gone over there Saturday night and, obviously, nothing was done,” she said.

Pontiac Police did eventually come to the house again. We asked the owner about the whereabouts of her dogs. She was a bit shy, hiding behind the door when we first approached just telling us the dogs were no longer at the house and were taken to someone else’s house in Detroit. She had a little more to say later. She told FOX 2 the animals are safe and sound and just fine.

This is becoming a real issue in Pontiac. The animal control officer was let go because of budget cuts, leaving animals roaming the streets cold and hungry. More than a dozen have turned up dead.

“They don’t want to get in trouble. They won’t surrender the dogs, so rather than just giving us the dogs or giving up the dogs, they will move them to a new location where they’ll probably suffer some more,” Porteus said.

The mayor of Pontiac told FOX 2 that come January 1 he is hoping the county will step in to help with animal control. In the meantime, volunteer groups will scour the streets looking to rescue where and when possible. They are hoping that the dogs we saw Sunday are okay wherever they are now.

If you happen to see a dog out and about anywhere in the community and you would like to make sure that dog gets help, contact one of the following organizations.

Animal Rescue Network (248) 678-2756
Oakland Pet Adoption Center (248) 391-4100