By By GREG KATSKI
Community Editor
Law-enforcement agencies and animal-rescue agencies began a rescue of dogs and horses at a farm near Aurora on Monday.
Kimberley Alboum, director of the Humane Society in North Carolina and who was at the scene Monday, said the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, Humane Society of the United States, Wilson County Animal Control and the Equine Rescue League are assisting Beaufort County Animal Control in the rescue and subsequent investigation.
“It’s all one big effort to try and address the situation,” she said.
As of Tuesday afternoon, it was unclear who called local law-enforcement officers and animal-control officers to tell them about the horses and dogs at the farm, which is located on Vinegar Hill Road. Alboum said the farm owner, a man whose name was not disclosed to the media, voluntarily surrendered some dogs.
She said the farm owner was not running a puppy mill.
“The dogs surrendered … were his dogs,” Alboum said. “Being out in the country, a lot of times strays are dropped off. Overtime, he took them in to help them when he could.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, she said, all of the dogs on the farm had been rescued and were “ready to be placed in homes.”
While at the farm Monday, Alboum said, some horses were taken from the property. She said volunteers with the United States Equine Rescue League brought at least one horse trailer with them, but she could not confirm they transported any horses.
“I was on dog detail,” she said. “In an effort like this, we’re divided into teams.”
On Tuesday, a call to the USERL’s administrative office in Raleigh was not returned immediately.
USERL operates in North Carolina, Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky and Iowa. The nonprofit organization rescues an average of 200 equines a year. Beaufort County falls in the USERL’s North Carolina Central Coast Region.
“With the economy the way it is, we are seeing more and more abused and malnutritioned horses,” reads the North Carolina Central Coast Region’s Web site.
On Tuesday, Alboum said that since an investigation is under way, she could not divulge any more information.
Attempts to reach Beaufort County Animal Control Director Sandra Woolard were unsuccessful. A sign on the front of the Betsy Bailey Nelson Animal Control Facility on Tuesday afternoon said the shelter was closed for the day because of an emergency.
This latest rescue and investigation is the second major animal rescue in less than six months in Beaufort County. In mid-November, 131 dogs of various breeds were surrendered to Beaufort County Animal Control officers by an Edward woman.
Alboum said animal rescues are on the rise across the state.
“It’s not really just a Beaufort County thing,” she said. “It seems to me, statewide, there’s been an increased awareness of animal cruelty.”