FORT WORTH, Texas — Just one day after a North Texas shelter reported multiple dogs dumped in extreme heat recently, one of its managers said more animals were dumped in the middle of the night.
Around 4:45 a.m. Thursday, Cassie Davidson of the Humane Society of North Texas said a woman was caught on camera dumping a box of kittens at the shelter's main facility in Fort Worth.
Both kittens that were dropped off needed medical attention because of dehydration, according to the shelter. As of Thursday morning, both animals were alive.
According to Davidson, the video shows the woman intentionally dropped off these kittens, and it didn't appear to be someone in desperate need of help reaching out for our services.
On Wednesday, the Humane Society of North Texas said there has been a recent rising problem of people abandoning animals in the sweltering heat – calling it a “cruel death sentence.”
The shelter said in the past 10 days as of Wednesday, there had been five cases of neglected and abandoned dogs across DFW. In two of those cases, the dogs died from a heat stroke, officials said.
The Humane Society of North Texas shared videos of a few of the incidents, including one that showed an injured dog trying to find shade and another where a staff member was seen rushing to help an overheated dog.
"The problem is the heat makes it harder for these animals to be left somewhere. Because they are not left in the shade or left with water. They're just left," Jones said. "So they end up with heat stroke, or heat prostration. And a large part of those animals don't make it. Because they end up in organ failure."
As temperatures continue to spike in the triple-digits, the shelter is hoping to raise awareness on this urgent issue. The organization has a 97% live release rate and free programs to help pet owners and those who would like to surrender their animals to the shelter.
"Don't give up on your pets. Those are part of your family," Jones said. "Do something where you are responsible for that pet for as long as they live. And that's what we hope to have everybody do."