‘Bloodbath’ Of Dogs Caused By Intruders At Arkansas Animal Shelter

Last week, an animal shelter in Arkansas was invaded by intruders who pitted dogs against each other, starting a bloodbath inside the facility.

"The scene was straight out of a horror film," the shelter said in a Facebook post. "It was a bloodbath. Kennels had been destroyed in the mayhem to give you an idea of the kind of fighting and violence that took place. To say we are disgusted at the kind of person who could do this to helpless, homeless animals is an understatement."

Reta Merritt, the operations manager of The Humane Society of the Delta in Helena-West Helena, Arkansas, said from eight of the dogs being set free and several locked in the same pen, the intruders also brought their own animals with them to attack the ones in the shelter.

"They have feelings, they have everything just what like we do," Merritt said, CBS -affiliated WREG reported. "And to know that somebody literally went in deliberately is just mean."

Beth Florek, the director of the animal shelter, said she had a fairly good idea how the intruders managed to find their way into the facility.

"Somebody had come onto the premises of the shelter and had gotten behind the fence and was able to open the cages," Florek said.

While many animals inside the facility were hurt, the worst hit was an eight-year-old dog hound-mix named Rubio, who had to be sent to the hospital.

“He probably has 20-plus puncture wounds in his head, his throat, his back," Merritt said. "On his side, he’s got a hole about the size of a quarter that you can see in."

Florek said when she rushed to the facility Wednesday after receiving a distress call from someone who lived near the shelter following sounds of barking coming from inside the premises, she found multiple dogs attacking Rubio.

Parts of Rubio’s ear were bitten off and he underwent at least two surgeries at the hospital.

"He had 17 different bite lacerations on him that I counted," Florek said, NBC-affiliated KARK reported. "Rubio being the older guy was the sitting duck for the dogs they put in there.”

Since the shelter operates wholly on donations, Florek said they were raising money on the Humane Society of the Delta Facebook page, in order to pay for Rubio’s medical bills, fix the damaged kennels and install a security system.

This was not the first time intruders had targeted the animal shelter for pulling inhumane stunts. Five years ago, the shelter was broken into and several dogs were hurt in a similar fashion. Again in 2016, three dogs were killed by intruders. No one was arrested in either incidents.

"It was just reliving that whole horrible experience again," said shelter president Gloria Higginbotham. "When we got here, there were our dead dogs laying all over the property."

However, Florek believed the latest incident was worse than the previous times.

“We've had that happen before but this time I think it was just a sport. Just mean people out to do mean stuff," Florek said.

While the shelter raised enough money to buy security cameras after the 2016 incident, Higginbotham said someone broke in and stole them before they could be installed.

Phillips County Sheriff’s Office said they had little hopes of catching the culprits this time around too.