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Exclusive: 2 hounds rescued from Hampton home after concerned neighbor calls 911

Posted at 3:05 PM, Jul 15, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-15 18:04:05-04

HAMPTON, Va. – Neighbors in the 100 block of Fairmont Drive in Hampton say they didn’t know one of their own had two dogs, until Hampton Animal Control officers showed up to seize them.

“I never realized they that they had two dogs,” said Sheila Bannister, a neighbor who lives close to the home where the animals were seized.

“The gentleman across the street from me…he noticed that [the owners] weren’t coming and going anymore, but he could hear the dogs barking.”

A search warrant filed in Hampton Circuit Court says police received an abandoned animal complaint on July 1st. When police responded to the home, they found two dogs barking inside the front, right window.

The search warrant says police tried to notify the homeowner four times, leaving notices on the front door and garage However, their notices were left unanswered.

“[They] hadn’t had any food, hadn’t had any water, hadn’t had anybody to take care of them. How could you do that to an animal? I don’t understand,” Bannister told News 3.

After several days of trying to reach their owner, the search warrant says animal control officers finally rescued the dogs themselves.

The dogs were later identified as one male and one female, both black and white hound mixes.

“[Officer] came down here, and had to let two dogs out of the house that had been in there for – we don’t even know how long they had been in the house by themselves, poor things,” said Bannister, who has a dog herself.

News 3’s Merris Badcock also tried to speak to the homeowners, who had since removed the notices from the front door and garage, but no one answered the door.

Hampton Animal Control haven’t arrested anyone in relation to this case, but they say everything is still under investigation.