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U.S. NEWS Thursday 26 sepTember 2019
Animal rescue operators charged after 150 dead

dogs found

By HEATHER HOLLING- ties found many of the ington was transporting fast,” according to the re-
SWORTH and DAVID WAR- dogs covered in feces and the animals to Cole Camp, port.
REN urine, with two or three of Missouri, which is about 90 Jeane Jae, a spokeswom-
The Associated Press them packed together in miles (145 kilometers) south- an for the Humane Society
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — each cage. Authorities esti- east of Kansas City. Law of Missouri, said the surviv-
A couple who operated mated that more than half enforcement went to a ing animals, which are in
an animal rescue face
multiple charges after au-
thorities found about 150
dead dogs on property in
Missouri and Texas and res-
cued hundreds more ani-
mals that were packed into
cages and living in “un-
imaginable” conditions,
law enforcement said.
Tiffany and Steven Wood-
ington operated All Ac-
counted For, which brought
animals from Texas to Mis-
souri, the Benton County,
Missouri, Sheriff’s Office said
in a Facebook post Mon-
day. Authorities said they
found nearly 300 animals
living at the operations in
Texas and Missouri, but that
many of the animals had to
be euthanized because of
poor health.
Tiffany Woodington, 49, is
charged in Missouri with
10 counts of felony ani- This undated photo provided by the Benton County, Mo., Sheriff’s Office in Warsaw, Mo., shows
mal abuse and two mis- Tiffany Woodington, who was charged Friday, Sept. 20, 2019, in Missouri with 10 counts of felony
animal abuse and two misdemeanor counts of animal abuse.
demeanor counts of ani- Associated Press
mal abuse. Her husband,
Steven Woodington, 55, is of the Texas dogs wouldn’t property there, where Tiffa- its care, were matted and
charged in Texas with 19 survive or would have to be ny Woodington led them to skinny. “It is going to take
counts of animal cruelty. euthanized. an old school bus, a barn a long time to rehabilitate
A second man described “This is the worst case of an- and a house. these animals,” she said,
as the caretaker also was imal abuse I’ve ever seen,” The Benton County Sheriff’s adding that one dog and
charged in Texas with ani- said Lucio, who’s been in Office said it found about one cat found in Missouri
mal cruelty. law enforcement for more 120 dead dogs and a dead had to be euthanized for
All three are free on bond. than 50 years. “The multi- cat in “various stages of de- medical reasons.
No attorney is listed for Tif- tude? It’s staggering, it’s cay, some were just bones” Knox said he had heard
fany Woodington in on- staggering to the imagina- on Sept. 12. Benton County “not a word” about prob-
line court records and she tion.” Sheriff Eric Knox said some lems before the dead
doesn’t have a listed num- Paul Fourt Jr., the attor- of the animals died in the animals were found, even
ber. ney for Steven Wooding- same cages, making it diffi- though the nearest neigh-
Cameron County, Texas, ton, said his client intends cult to get an exact count. bor lived about 500 feet
Sheriff Omar Lucio said to plead not guilty to the Authorities also found 38 (152 meters) away.
Tuesday that authorities charges. dogs and one cat “alive “It really surprises me that
discovered about 270 ani- “He was at all times trying but in unimaginable condi- no one in the community
mals — about two dozen of to rescue and save those tions.” Tiffany Woodington said, ‘You better check
them dead — on property animals,” Fourt said, ex- had moved some of them that lady out.’
in the small community of plaining that Woodington to another location in the And the smell, as soon as I
Los Fresnos, which is north intended to also send the area, a sheriff’s sergeant drove up, I could smell it,”
of Brownsville in the far dogs to shelters in Kansas wrote in a report. he said. “I am a dog lover,
southern part of the state. and Oklahoma so that they Tiffany Woodington told and I struggle with it.”q
They were found Sept. 9 could ultimately be adopt- authorities that the dogs
after authorities received ed. died of distemper and all
complaints from neighbors Fourt indicated that others within a three-day span.
about barking dogs, ac- were responsible for their She was asked why she
cording to Lucio and Cam- mistreatment. didn’t seek help and “she
eron County prosecutor The Benton County Sheriff’s did not have answer other
Edward Sandoval. Depu- Office said Steven Wood- than it just happened so

linda.reijnders@cspnv.com