Starving dogs rescued from Hunt County ranch make remarkable recovery with SPCA

An almost unbelievable update on a story we first told you about in May, when authorities in Hunt County seized a number of starving dogs from a rural property and charged the owner with animal cruelty.

Some of those dogs were believed to be near death when they were taken to an SPCA facility in Dallas. There were doubts and questions about whether they could be nursed back to health. 

One dog was so malnourished that he had to be carried by Hunt County Sheriff's deputies out of what investigators described as hellish conditions when the dog and six others were seized from farmland back in May. 

"This is definitely one of the worst cases that we've seen in quite a few years," said Rebecca Woodward, the SPCA Sr. Director of Shelter and Medical Operations.

The one they called Boone was said to be hours from dying when he and the others were rushed to the SPCA of Texas Dallas shelter, where a team of 150 staff and volunteers worked around the clock for weeks to save him. 

"He could barely walk," said Woodward. "Our team knew it was critical to come in and save him very quickly. And it was an hour-by-hour situation. He had to have really close monitoring from all teams to pull through, but we never stopped believing that he would make it."

Today, Boone is thriving.

"As long as we were taking those little steps of improving his nutrition and improving his health day by day, we could see the spark come back in his eyes," Woodward said.

Boone, Clyde and Cash are still at the SPCA shelter in Dallas with others currently in foster homes.

But all of them, ages 3 to 8, we are glad to report, are thriving. 

"It took everyone at the SPCA to play a hand in this. And so we've been rooting for him from day one," said Woodward. "And we just can't wait to see him get a forever home."

Boone and the other dogs seized in the raid are currently available for fostering and adoption. Whoever they end up with will have a family pet with a survival story unlike almost any other 

In fact, the staff at the SPCA of Texas, Dallas, believes these dogs that have been through so much seem to show a greater appreciation of everything they get. 

"They all just seem to be enjoying their life right now," Woodward said. "And I would like to believe it's because they got that second chance, but they could just be being dogs. I mean, they're getting to play. They got to do enrichment. Our goal is for them to do this in a home, but to see them blossom in shelter, we're doing something right."