An animal welfare worker in Oklahoma came across two dogs that had been abandoned in an apartment. According to him and neighbors, the owner had been picked up by ICE, but no one reached out about the dogs for a week.
Editor’s Note: This article was updated to remove identifying workplace location details at the request of the animal welfare officer featured in the story.
The footage where both dogs were rescued was shared online by Animal Welfare Guy. He is a prominent animal welfare worker who rescues animals in distress and often shares footage of these rescues on his account. The clip attached above quickly became one of his biggest, garnering 4.4 million views, 405,300 likes, and more than 5,300 comments.
The animal welfare worker responded to the apartment after receiving a call from the property manager. In the clip, two dogs can be seen frightened in a room that has been trashed. It appears the dogs had chewed through furniture, most likely due to severe hunger.
The man approached both dogs sitting in the corner. One after the other, he used his catch pole to move them into his van, both giving him a bit of trouble. After all, he was a stranger to them. Eventually, both dogs were safe in the animal welfare van, and they were subsequently taken to a local shelter.
ICE To Blame
In the first clip’s description, the man detailed exactly what had occurred. Those dogs had been left alone for a week after their owner got deported by ICE. The law enforcement agency wasn’t the one to notify animal welfare. According to him, it was the manager who contacted them.
This, of course, led to a lot of reactions online. Some of them were negative toward the animal welfare worker himself for stirring controversy with his content. He, however, disagreed and later posted a follow-up clip directly blaming ICE.
“They [ICE] had every opportunity to alert us because they picked the guy up from his house, his apartment,” the man said. “They absolutely knew the dogs were there. It is 1,000% their responsibility to notify us.”
The man then explained that his clip wasn’t meant as a gratuitous dig at ICE, as he would do the same if other agencies were to blame. He would then blast viewers defending ICE, saying once again that the agents knew about the dogs because the owner got picked up from the apartment.
Reactions
Many viewers called out ICE for this alleged instance of carelessness. One said, “Why would they not ensure the dogs were also transferred with them or to the same location as them? This is inhumane.” Another one commented, “I hate ICE.”
Other users chose to focus on the dogs, feeling sorry for them. One wrote, “They think their family left them.” Another one added, “They look absolutely terrified.”
No information regarding the owner’s current status is available, and Animal Welfare Guy has not shared an update on the case.
