It happens every so often that someone reports cases of cruelty or neglect and asks that we intervene and then becomes angry when we can't. We wanted to share with you what to do if you are a witness to inhumane treatment.
If you are in Oregon, contact the Oregon Humane Society's Investigations team. They are law officers who are dedicated and trained to deal with these situations. They also work with animal control and other police departments, so if they can help then you need not call anyone else. However, they are often overwhelmed with reports. If they are unable to help or cannot help quickly enough to save the animal then call...
Your county's animal control department. These departments are often understaffed and underfunded and depending on your county, may or may not be able to act quickly based on your report. If the cruelty or neglect you have witnessed is severe then you really need to...
Call the police. You can call the non-emergency number, ask that an officer come out, and file a report. Hopefully the situation will be taken seriously enough to warrant an investigation.
You'll notice that no rescues, including PGPR, are listed above. That's because we do not and never will have the authority to obtain a warrant, enter someone's home, remove animals, or take animal abusers into police custody. When OHS Investigations, animal control, or the police do this it is called Investigating a Possible Crime. We are citizens just like you so if we did this it would be called Trespassing and Vigilantism.
When contacted by other organizations who are first on the ground of neglect cases we help as much as we can, providing expertise and housing.
One thing we can do and have done is to work with people who are concerned about something they have seen occur with a friend or neighbor's pets, but don't want to cause difficulty or hard feelings by starting an investigation. If the concerned person is able to convince the owner to allow them to take in the animals themselves then we may provide foster support and supplies to them until we are able to take the pets in as an owner-surrender. This has been done a few times when the concerned person has acted quickly to save the animals from being dumped outside or harmed and suddenly finds themselves with unfamiliar pets and in other situations. Or the concerned person has won over their neighbor and suddenly has an apartment full of pigs.
Another thing you may have noticed - the keyword is "Witness." In order to report someone to these authorities you must have witnessed the cruelty yourself. If your report is based on hearsay or a secondhand account it cannot be investigated and nothing will be done to help the animals. If you are not the witness but know the witness/es you must have them file a report to start an investigation. If they refuse to file a report then nothing will be done to help the animals.
If you are in Oregon, contact the Oregon Humane Society's Investigations team. They are law officers who are dedicated and trained to deal with these situations. They also work with animal control and other police departments, so if they can help then you need not call anyone else. However, they are often overwhelmed with reports. If they are unable to help or cannot help quickly enough to save the animal then call...
Your county's animal control department. These departments are often understaffed and underfunded and depending on your county, may or may not be able to act quickly based on your report. If the cruelty or neglect you have witnessed is severe then you really need to...
Call the police. You can call the non-emergency number, ask that an officer come out, and file a report. Hopefully the situation will be taken seriously enough to warrant an investigation.
You'll notice that no rescues, including PGPR, are listed above. That's because we do not and never will have the authority to obtain a warrant, enter someone's home, remove animals, or take animal abusers into police custody. When OHS Investigations, animal control, or the police do this it is called Investigating a Possible Crime. We are citizens just like you so if we did this it would be called Trespassing and Vigilantism.
When contacted by other organizations who are first on the ground of neglect cases we help as much as we can, providing expertise and housing.
One thing we can do and have done is to work with people who are concerned about something they have seen occur with a friend or neighbor's pets, but don't want to cause difficulty or hard feelings by starting an investigation. If the concerned person is able to convince the owner to allow them to take in the animals themselves then we may provide foster support and supplies to them until we are able to take the pets in as an owner-surrender. This has been done a few times when the concerned person has acted quickly to save the animals from being dumped outside or harmed and suddenly finds themselves with unfamiliar pets and in other situations. Or the concerned person has won over their neighbor and suddenly has an apartment full of pigs.
Another thing you may have noticed - the keyword is "Witness." In order to report someone to these authorities you must have witnessed the cruelty yourself. If your report is based on hearsay or a secondhand account it cannot be investigated and nothing will be done to help the animals. If you are not the witness but know the witness/es you must have them file a report to start an investigation. If they refuse to file a report then nothing will be done to help the animals.
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