Over 2 dozen animals rescued from habitual hoarder house in Brooks County

THOMAS COUNTY, Ga. (WCTV) - More than 30 animals are in need of a home following a habitual hoarding case in Brooks County.

The home belongs to Richard Jerry McLeod, who was previously charged in 2016 for a similar case where nearly 100 animals were removed from the residence.

There were several puppies, dogs and kittens rescued from the home.

“There were kittens and puppies hiding together underneath cars trying to stay warm. Throughout the whole area, I never found one full bag of food. No clean water, they were just surviving the best they could,” said Lauren Warburton, the Director of Field Services with the Thomas County Humane Society.

Warburton says they received a tip about a large number of animals at McLeod’s home, and that he has been accumulating animals, from “Free to good home” posts on social media.

“He would get them from Craigslist, Facebook, even the newspaper if people were posting up free puppies. He’d go out there and get them and collect them. Hence why we’ve been out there time and time again,” she said.

While the majority of the animals are being housed at Fur Kids in Atlanta, Warburton says on a final run-through at the property she found one more puppy, bringing the total of animals removed to 32.

“It was late Friday night before the rainstorm hit. I went out there and I found her underneath one of the mobile homes and that’s when all the torrential downpour came down and I was able to get her put,” she said.

The 7-week-old puppy is now known as Aurora, and she joins at least 200 other cats and dogs at the Thomas County Humane Society in need of adoption. The Thomas County Humane Society is a no-kill shelter, so officials say the community’s help is crucial to make sure they have space for the next potential rescue.

People can foster, adopt, donate food and volunteer their time as a resource to the shelter.

McLeod was arrested in Brooks County for hoarding the animals. Officials advise people to vet adopters when looking to re-home their animals online.

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