BOCA RATON, FL (Boca Post) (Copyright © 2026) — A Boca Raton animal rescue team is on the road to Tennessee after more than 140 animals were found in what rescuers described as one of the most heartbreaking hoarding cases Animal Rescue Corps has handled.
Tri-County Animal Rescue said its team was heading toward Tennessee as part of a mission called Operation Little Dogs, Big Hearts, a rescue effort involving 146 animals found in Rutherford County. The animals include 133 chihuahuas, one large dog and 12 cats.
The rescue said the animals were found living in overcrowded and neglectful conditions. Floors were covered in feces. Some animals were sick or injured. Others were suffering from untreated medical conditions that had gone without care.
Tri-County said some of the dogs had severe dental disease, with some missing parts of their lower jaws. Others were dealing with respiratory distress, eye ulcers, tumors, congestive heart failure, infections and trauma from living for an extended time in survival conditions.
The Boca Raton-based rescue is working with Animal Rescue Corps, a national animal protection organization that responds to large-scale cruelty, neglect and disaster cases. Tri-County said it has partnered with Animal Rescue Corps for more than a decade, taking in animals after they are removed from urgent rescue situations.
This time, the mission also includes 10 additional dogs from other recent Animal Rescue Corps operations. Those dogs, Tri-County said, have also endured hardship and will be brought into rescue care.
The work does not end when the animals are removed from the property. For Tri-County and other rescue groups, the next stage involves medical care, decompression and preparing the animals for adoption when they are ready.
The rescue said the animals will need time, patience and treatment before they can begin moving into new homes. Many are expected to require veterinary evaluations and ongoing care after being removed from the conditions described by rescuers.
Tri-County said the dogs will soon have access to food, soft beds, medical care and safe shelter. The rescue asked supporters to follow the mission as the animals begin the process of healing and eventually finding homes.
The Tennessee case adds to the steady flow of large-scale animal rescue work that depends on groups willing to receive animals after they are seized or surrendered. For South Florida residents, it also means some of the animals from a case hundreds of miles away could soon be recovering through a Boca Raton rescue organization.
Tri-County Animal Rescue said its team was tired but grateful to again work alongside Animal Rescue Corps.
“No matter the time, when animals need help… we’re on the way,” the rescue said in its update.
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