Eighteen dogs, adults and puppies, were rescued from far southwest Miami-Dade County by activists over the weekend. Amy Roman talks about rescuing the dogs.
Eighteen dogs, adults and puppies, were rescued from far southwest Miami-Dade County by activists over the weekend.
Sadly, it's not uncommon for dog owners to release their pets in the Florida Everglades. Dog lover and rescuer Amy Roman goes there regularly – to save them.
“They're suffering, there’s snakes, there's speeding cars, I mean it's torture for them. These dogs cannot fend for themselves,” said Roman, the president of 100+ Abandoned Dogs of the Everglades.
Some 50 volunteers corralled abandoned dogs during Roman’s operation on Saturday. They were taken to Imperial Animal Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, where they are being treated.
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The volunteers try and go out once a month and their focus is south, to Homestead, Redlands, and the Everglades. Roman calls the area a never-ending dumping ground for dogs and horses.
”People that don't want their animals anymore, and they're not educated and they think it’s better off to dump them out on the streets versus taking them to a shelter,” she said.
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The dog rescue business certainly has a sad side to it.
“There's two 11-week-old puppies, they were a litter of six. The mommy was found dead, covered in snake bites, and these puppies are crawling the walls, they're so scared,” Roman said.
But there are happy times too, like when some pups were reunited with their mother.
Roman said she would like more help from authorities. Meantime, she'll continue to do the heavy lifting.
“We need help, we need homes,” she said. “It's never-ending, it's horrible, horrible.”
