Animal lover travels from Durham to help care for dogs rescued from massive dogfighting ring
September 25, 2013 – Durham resident and RedRover® volunteer Julius Bartell is traveling this week to an undisclosed location in the southern United States to help care for hundreds of dogs rescued from the second largest dogfighting ring in the history of the country.
As a volunteer with California-based RedRover, Julius travels around the country at his own expense when abused and neglected animals need help. Julius will be cleaning and assembling cages, preparing meals and caring for the dogfighting victims. This will be Julius’ sixth deployment with RedRover. Julius has previous experience in emergency sheltering for puppy mill seizures, natural disasters, hoarding cases and other dogfighting busts.
Julius completed his emergency sheltering training and became a RedRover Responders volunteer in 2009. When he’s not volunteering with RedRover, Julius spends his time fostering for a cat rescue and works with his local animal shelter. Like a typical RedRover Responders volunteer, Julius is taking time away from his work, family and friends to travel and take care of these animals at his own cost.
“We are especially fortunate to send such an experienced and diverse group of volunteers on this deployment,” said RedRover CEO and President Nicole Forsyth. “Such a large and sensitive case calls for volunteers with excellent skills and experience, and we are confident that Julius and this group of RedRover Responders volunteers will go above and beyond for these dogs.”
The multi-state dogfighting raid took place after a three-year investigation initiated by the Auburn Police Department in Alabama, in conjunction with the United States Attorney’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The ASPCA and The Humane Society of the United States rescued and transported a total of 367 dogs to an ASPCA temporary shelter location, which remains confidential due to the criminal nature of the seizure.
At the request of the ASPCA, RedRover will be deploying a team of volunteers to provide daily care for the canines seized in the case. The rescued dogs will receive ongoing care during the duration of the legal proceedings and then placed appropriately with various animal welfare agencies and rescue groups once the court determines the custody of the dogs.