MADISON TWP., Ohio — The owner of Helping Hands for Furry Paws animal rescue has been arrested after the discovery of nearly 120 dogs, 30 of which were found dead in freezers, according to the Butler County Sheriff's Office.
Ronda Murphy's home was raided late last month. The 60-year-old had been hospitalized but now she's housed in the Middletown Jail and is facing multiple cruelty to companion animal charges.
On Wednesday a judge set Murphy's bond at 10% of $2,500 for the felony count she faces and 10% of $2,500 for the two misdemeanor charges.
In total, Murphy must pay $500 to be released on bond. She's scheduled for another hearing on August 9.
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The remaining 86 dogs were taken to the Animal Friends Humane Society of Butler County for evaluation and treatment.
According to court documents, only 18 bodies of the 30 dead dogs were able to be recovered. The rest were either too decomposed or liquefied to move, investigators said.
Butler County officials, like Sheriff Richard Jones, said the conditions were some of the worst ever seen by sheriff's deputies and dog warden investigators.
"Five sets of puppies. No food," Jones said. "This one was nursing other pups, and you can see ribs hanging out, so, pretty nasty stuff."
The conditions at Helping Hands for Furry paws was a night and day difference from Cincinnati Animal Care where volunteers spent Saturday afternoon beautifying the property and 40 to 50 employees, like Ray Anderson, work daily to make sure the roughly 8,000 animals who pass through their facility annually are cared for.
"A lot of folks, they don't know the difference between a shelter and a rescue," Anderson said.
He said rescues can range from large operations dealing with hundreds of animals to a single person housing a couple of dogs off the street, but a person attempting to surrender their pet may never know what they're dealing with if they don't do their due diligence.
"Go some place where you can actually see the living conditions of the animals," Anderson said. "If someone is telling you they'll meet you at the Ikea parking lot or some other public space versus seeing how the animal is living, that would be a red flag for me."
If a person can't make a trip to see a property with their own eyes, Anderson suggested doing thorough research online.
He said reputable rescues should be posting recent pictures or videos of multiple animals around their facility, and the same should be true for any rescue's social media presence.
"Really, that's the big thing," Anderson said, "transparency."
Anderson said amateur rescues that get out of control usually start with the good intentions of helping animals in need, but become too much to handle.
He said shelters exist to help people before it reaches that point, and suggested people reach out to their local shelter before it reaches the point of criminality.
According to a press release from the Butler County Sheriff's Office, a bond hearing for Murphy will be scheduled for later this week.
"In over forty years, this is the worst case I have ever seen," Jones said. "This level of neglect and cruelty will never be tolerated in this county. If you mistreat animals like this, you will go to jail."
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