A humane society in Ohio on June 16 discovered 146 dead dogs inside a seemingly abandoned home allegedly owned by the founder of a nonprofit animal rescue.
Portage Animal Protective League investigators found the dead dogs in varying stages of decay inside a Mantua home owned by Barbara Wible, founding operator of Canine Lifeline, Inc., local outlet WKYC reported. The agency received a tip about an animal cruelty charge pending against the homeowner and subsequently executed a search warrant at the residence, the league announced Monday on Facebook.
Most of the dogs had been confined to their crates inside the home, and no animals were left alive, according to the press release. (RELATED: Police Make Arrests After Allegedly Finding 105 Cows, 1 Dog Dead On Oklahoma Farm)
“The state of that house and everything that was in it was just, there’s not even words to describe it. It was just horrendous,” neighbor Jon Collier said, according to WKYC.
‘It was just horrendous’: 146 dogs found dead inside Mantua home https://t.co/ZR0bxw84Pz via @wkyc pic.twitter.com/P2autEPuJm
— Neil Fischer (@NeilFischerTV) June 20, 2023
Collier said he hasn’t Wible seen for the past six or eight months. “She just left. Not a care in the world. I don’t know who could do that or why she would do that, but just to leave them and not even have food or water,” he said.
Canine Lifeline responded to the shocking conditions reportedly discovered at Wilbe’s home, saying the owner had been hospitalized June 2 following a medical emergency. “After first responders reported to her home in response to this medical emergency, an investigation was triggered that has uncovered overwhelming evidence of ongoing fatal animal neglect in both her current Parma residence as well as her former home in Mantua,” the nonprofit wrote in a Facebook statement Monday.
Volunteers for Canine Lifeline are “grieving” the tragedy and have voiced a sense of betrayal at the horrifying conditions allegdly within Wible’s residences. “None of the volunteers were ever given access to either of Wible’s homes. Wible was a very private person who appeared, to us, to be devoted to these rescue animals; it appeared to be her life’s passion, and we are sickened and blindsighted to learn this was a facade,” the statement reads.
“Wible gave no indication that she was seriously ill nor that she needed help above and beyond what the volunteers were doing to assist at the adoption center or by fostering dogs within their own homes,” the statement continues, noting the nonprofit is cooperating with the appropriate authorities over the matter.
Necropsies will be performed on the dogs to determine the causes of death, according to the league’s press release. The surviving animals found at Wilbe’s Parma home were transported to the Parma Animal Shelter, according to WKYC.