Hundreds of animals rescued from Pikeville, Tenn. home

This photo posted online by the Humane Society of the United State and the Bledsoe County Sheriff Department shows a couple of the dogs rescued from a home in Pikeville.
This photo posted online by the Humane Society of the United State and the Bledsoe County Sheriff Department shows a couple of the dogs rescued from a home in Pikeville.
photo This photo posted online by the Humane Society of the United State and the Bledsoe County Sheriff Department shows a couple of the dogs rescued from a home in Pikeville.

Hundreds of neglected animals were rescued late last week from a Pikeville, Tennessee, home where a woman was allegedly hoarding the animals, according to the Bledsoe County Sheriff Department.

Caroline Ruth Atkins has been arrested and faces animal cruelty charges, according to WTVC News Channel 9.

The sheriff's office was called Thursday night to rescue the animals from the Poplar Road home and received help from the Humane Society of the United States and Rhea County Animal Control. The groups rescued approximately 200 dogs and cats suffering from severe neglect. Many of the pets were sick, underweight and in bad condition, according to organizations who received the animals.

The Humane Society is providing grants to partners who helped with the immediate care of the animals. They were all taken from the property Thursday and Friday and sent to animal centers throughout the region.

Most of the groups who received animals will be posting photos once the animals have been assessed, cleaned and had medical treatment. They are also accepting photos to reunite lost or stolen pets with their owners.

The Humane Educational Society in Chattanooga; McKamey Animal Center in Chattanooga; Atlanta Humane Society; Cashiers-Highland Humane Society in North Carolina; Humane Society of Tulsa, Oklahoma; and New Leash on Life Pet Adoption Center in Lebanon, Tennessee each received animals.

The animals appear to have been left largely without food and lived in an area with urine, feces and no human companionship, according to groups that received the animals.

"Their nightmare is over, and the journey to what will become the loving forever home they deserve has just begun," read a post from Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society.

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