SPCA removes dozens of dogs from Lakeland home
LAKELAND (FOX 13) - For the second time in two weeks, employees of SPCA Florida responded to a Lakeland home and removed dozens of dogs.
The house is located in the 2700 block of Gallatin Road.
According to SPCA officials, the woman who lives there had almost sixty dogs in the house and is no longer able to care for them because she is ill.
The SPCA says Animal Control recently cited the woman for neglect and a judge ordered her to surrender the animals.
SPCA workers went to the home several days ago and removed 29 dogs.
They returned Wednesday and removed another 30.
All of them appeared to be small dogs of mixed breed.
A SPCA veterinarian on scene said the inside of the house has “unhealthy conditions.”
“There is urine and feces everywhere,” said Charles Camacho of SPCA Florida. “These dogs are flea-infested. Some of them have a lot of health issues that need to be assessed by vets at our clinic.”
A man named David Stulak was at the house Wednesday and identified himself as the woman’s ex-husband.
He said they are recently divorced and he considers the dogs his, too.
“We had six of them with us when we moved here from Okeechobee,” said Stulak. “They just kept having puppies and had more and more and became too much for us to handle.”
He said his ex-wife has a brain tumor and caring for the dogs has become too stressful.
“I’ll miss them a lot. So will she,” he said as he watched the SPCA van drive away. “But it makes me feel good that they’ll get a new home. Find a good person who will take care of them.”
Camacho says the dogs will be taken to the SPCA clinic in Lakeland where they will be evaluated by vets, treated for fleas, tested for heartworms, and given any other medical attention they need.
The goal is to get them adopted. The SPCA is asking the community for donations to help fund the medical care of the dogs so that they can be ready for forever-homes.
For information on adopting the pups, or to donate, call the SPCA adoption center at 863-646-4647 or donate online at spcaflorida.org/donate. Any donation, no matter the size helps.