A dog owner in Missouri managed to find her stolen pet after recognizing its distinctive bark in a Facebook video that unveiled a suspected pet thief’s property plagued with neglected animals, according to police reports.
Lawrence County authorities executed a raid on a cluttered lot on Tuesday. This action followed a vigilante pet investigator’s discovery of numerous trapped and frightened animals, confined to cramped cages and even shoved into an old school bus.
Melanie Self, a 37-year-old who has taken on the role of a pet detective, shared footage of the dismal conditions she uncovered on Facebook. One dog owner was startled to hear her missing Catahoula leopard dog barking in the background.
“She saw my videos and sent photos asking, ‘Did you find this dog?’” Self recounted. “I told her I was about 70 or 80 percent sure it was her dog. I suggested she reach out to the humane society.”
The property owner, 70-year-old Susan Berry, has been charged with animal neglect and felony animal theft. According to a probable cause statement, the dog’s unique bark indeed led the owner to identify her lost pet.
However, Self suspects that the Catahoula is not the only stolen dog on Berry’s property. “About twenty different people have reached out to me asking if we’ve found their dogs,” she noted. Residents from the small rural area reported their pets missing for months ahead of the raid.
Self has been on the front lines of pet rescues for nearly four years, starting with a litter of trapped puppies. She was drawn to investigate when she heard reports of Berry tearing down flyers for lost Dalmatians.
“At the property line, I called out the Dalmatians’ names and was met with this overwhelming chorus of barks. In that moment, I told my husband, ‘We’ve got to get on that property,’” Self recalled.
When they encountered Berry’s husband outside, they requested water for their overheated car. He instructed them to grab a jug from the back lot and then wandered off, granting them unhindered access to the property.
What they found was shocking: rundown vehicles, mounds of debris, and an overwhelming number of filthy, terrified dogs in cages. “There were dead dogs and bones found in enclosures. The sorrow and suffering were palpable,” Self expressed.
She also observed a horse with no food or water and reported seeing an abandoned school bus filled with dogs. Two weeks later, law enforcement and the Missouri Humane Society rescued over 100 animals, including goats, cats, chickens, and horses.
The Humane Society shared that the animals would be taken to shelters for emergency veterinary care, and the rescue operations were still underway, with the total number of animals rescued yet to be determined.
Currently, Berry is not listed in the Lawrence County Jail, and the sheriff’s office hasn’t responded to inquiries. Self speculated that Berry and her husband may have left their property as their vehicles were missing.
Despite everything, Self, who balances her passion for pet sleuthing with her job as an accountant, feels a sense of fulfillment knowing the animals are now safe. She mentioned that if any of the animals remain unclaimed, she might adopt a couple herself.
She concluded, “I have never felt more accomplished behind any desk than I did when those dogs were freed. The feeling is truly indescribable.”
