Dakota Access pipeline protesters abandoned several dogs and puppies before being evicted from their makeshift campsites, according to volunteers helping to clean up the area.
Two dogs and six puppies were rescued at the main anti-DAPL campsite by a local animal shelter. Those affiliated with the rescue effort have been working double-time to corral the pets left behind at the camp.
“Extremely sad being these guys were left behind. But we offer, Furry Friends offers hope. I mean there’s so much hope within Furry Friends as far as these puppies finding homes,” Tiffany Hardy, an employee with Furry Friends Rockin Rescue, told reporters Saturday.
The group said volunteers are having a hard time catching the animals because of the loud heavy machinery that’s being used to clean up the area.
Sanitation crews have working since last week to clean up hundreds of thousands of pounds of trash from the ramshackled campsites. The debris needs to be removed from the city-sized campsite before spring thaw floods the area.
Relevant personnel are also combing the site for dead bodies rolled up in tarps, as well as weapons that could be used against Morton County police officers. They are using bulldozers and earth-moving equipment to scrape the area clean of debris.
Tens of thousands of environmentalists and American Indian tribes descended upon the Cannonball and Missouri rivers to derail the multi-state oil project, which, when completed, will shuttle 500,000 barrels of Bakken oil from North Dakota to Illinois.
The protest sites slowly started to dwindle to about 500 people after former President Barack Obama rejected the project’s proposed route across Lake Oahe. President Donald Trump’s decision to approve the project in January, however, generated renewed actions from the those remaining.
The abandoned pets are a bit weather-beaten but otherwise fine. Two of the rescued dogs, for instance, have shown symptoms of frost bite and patchy fur.
“If they stay with us, we help them find their fur-ever home,” said Julie Schirado, another volunteer with Furry Friends. “If somebody has left the dog behind and they’re looking for that dog, we hope they’ll contact us so we can help them find their dog.”
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