LUNENBURG COUNTY, Va. – A group of women in Lunenburg County is upset and hoping to raise awareness about proper animal care.
The women say they’ve seen dozens of hounds that they believe were dumped in the woods or on the side of the road after hunting season this year.
"This is Dante," explained Lunenburg farmer Ella Moses.
The name means steadfast or enduring, and this dog has certainly endured a lot.
"He was so malnourished," said Moses. "He was unable to move, unable to stand up. He was not far from death."
Moses and her friends Jasmine Bailey and Lisa Spears say they found Dante late one January evening in front of a rural dump, eating a deer carcass.
"We wrapped him up in a blanket because he wasn't able to maintain his body heat," noted Moses. "He couldn't even stand up at all like there was zero movement.”
"I went home and cried that night because I knew he was going to die," said Spears. "That's how bad it was.”
But the determined Dante survived. Moses believes he was dumped.
"You could see the imprint of where the hunting collar had, you know, worn down the fur on him," explained Moses. "So, there was no doubt that he was a hunting dog. He had all the scars from you know, running through the woods. That's typical. But yeah, his collar was removed."
"He was beyond the I've been running and I'm tired," noted Bailey. "He was left because he was to the point where he was exhausted. He was about to give up, you could see it.”
These women say Dante isn’t the first or only hound they’ve seen this year that they suspect has been neglected.
"I was gonna say 30 to 40 dogs," noted Moses. "The end of hunting season brings a lot of unwanted animals. And unfortunately, the condition that they're in when we find them is honestly horrific.”
Under Virginia law, abandoning or dumping an animal is a class 1 misdemeanor.
Unfortunately, it can be hard to tell if a dog was dumped or abandoned, and catching the culprit can also be a challenge.
"Anybody that has one that can't have it in town limits, or they're fed up with it on their farm, come end of hunting season, they're like, I'm gonna turn this dog loose because they're gonna think it's a hound that’s been running deer," said Bailey.
"We want the practice stopped," explained Kirby Burch, who helped found the Virginia Hunting Dog Alliance in 2007. "We've been a leader in hunting ethics and in supporting animal good quality care for animals."
13 years ago, the alliance got word of complaints surrounding dumped dogs.
"Our board decided, wait a minute, we've got to put a reward out for the arrest and conviction," noted Burch.
$250 was the cash offered to anyone who provided information that led to the arrest and conviction of a person dumping hunting dogs in Virginia. Three years ago, the alliance took it a step further.
"In the first 10 years the reward was out there, we didn't have a single person make a claim," said Burch. "Now our reward is $1,000. And we still haven't had a claim since that reward has been offered."
Burch agrees it's difficult to prove that a dog has been dumped or abandoned.
"Beyond that, what we're finding and what we're hearing from law enforcement, the feedback we get, is that the one or two people that are doing this, basically don't live in the rural areas," he explained. "And they don't dump them in the same county every year, so it's hard to develop a pattern. I don't know how you can stop it other than more law enforcement, more awareness by the public, like you're doing a public service by getting this story out there.”
Burch believes not every dog found without a collar has been abandoned by its owner. That’s why he wants to remind people the law requires you to contact animal control if you find a stray animal.
"We don't want to see dogs treated like that," Burch explained. "We don't want to give the hunters a bad image, but we primarily care about the dogs."
While Burch and his team say they may not be able to catch the bad actors, they are doing what they can, like working with animal shelters, like Lunenburg, to provide free microchipping.
"We will work with any county wants to microchip dogs," said Burch.
While Dante is still timid, Moses says he's resilient. This young pup is taking full advantage of his second chance at life.
"The one quote that I've heard people say is like, there's no better act to do for an animal than to care for it when it can give you nothing in return," noted Moses. "But that's simply not true because he's got a lot to give in return. He's got a lot of love to give to people.”
Moses says she’s in the process of converting an old dishwasher into a dog food pantry for people to drop by J & E Farmer’s Market, no questions asked, and pick up a bag of dog food if they are struggling to feed their animals.
Lunenburg Animal Control Officer Ray Elliott says he is also always willing to meet people where they are to help ensure animals do not go hungry.
If you see an abandoned or stray dog, Eilliott says do not hesitate to call him. He and his team, while busy, will pick up the animal as soon as they can.
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