Guilty As Charged: After PETA Helped Remove Almost 50 Neglected Dogs From Sham ‘Rescue,’ Hoarder Pleads Guilty

Update (February 10, 2026): Betty Haynes pleaded guilty in court today to two counts of failure to provide adequate care to animals for her mistreatment of dogs Sunny Girl and Wellington. The plea comes after PETA, Dogs Deserve Better Blue Ridge, The Squishy Face Crew, Old Dominion Humane Society, Sanctuary Rescue, and the Patrick County Sheriff’s Office found them in deplorable conditions among the nearly fifty dogs imprisoned at “Save A Mutt Rescue.” PETA’s senior vice president of cruelty investigations testified for the prosecution at trial.

Rescuers found Sunny Girl confined to a feces-filled pen. The only source of water available to her was filthy, black, apparent rainwater, which was so sparse that it did not even fully cover the bottom of the bucket.

According to veterinary records, Sunny Girl was found “scared, lethargic … emaciated” and suffering from severe hair loss and “ulcerated wounds” as well as a secondary skin infection, ear infection, and “severe inflammation everywhere.”

Wellington, a 6-week-old unweaned puppy, was found listless and near death, dehydrated and with a bloated abdomen; he refused to eat or drink on-scene. Wellington’s mother was likely unable to produce milk for him, as she was so malnourished. Their pen did not contain a water source the puppy could reach, only a too-tall bucket with just an inch of dirty water at the bottom.

Haynes Collected More Dogs Despite Looming Court Date

During Haynes’ trial, evidence was presented that despite signing a legally binding agreement not to acquire new animals, she had already acquired more.

Judge Joan Ziglar reprimanded Haynes and told her, “This has got to stop,” and advised Haynes to seek counseling.

She fined Haynes the maximum $250 per offense, ordered her to relinquish all dogs currently in her custody by 5 p.m., and barred Haynes from owning animals for at least a year.

To prevent animals from ending up in hoarders’ hands, it’s vital to thoroughly vet anyone who calls themselves a ‘rescue’ before donating or turning animals over to them.

Originally posted November 3, 2025:

On the mid-June morning when authorities, animal protection groups, and PETA arrived at “Save A Mutt Rescue,” the heat was already sweat-inducing. But for the nearly fifty dogs locked in haphazard kennels—many without any shade or drinkable water—the sun was unbearable.

The property was a disaster. Suspect Betty Haynes seemingly dumped clutter and trash among piles of broken carriers and plastic doghouses filled with rainwater. She propped up dozens of flat metal traffic signs and used them to block the doors of dozens of pens, each holding between one and four dogs. This “rescue” was actually a hoarding hell. Haynes collected and imprisoned dozens of animals.

The Dogs Suffering at ‘Save A Mutt Rescue’

Despite Haynes knowing authorities were coming, most of the dogs had no drinkable water or access to shade.

Many of the enclosures had seemingly not been opened in a long time. One pen didn’t even have a door; rescuers used a shovel to dig out a hole to gain entry. Another, which held a dog named Josh, was barricaded with so many traffic signs and debris that it took several minutes of cutting with tools to get inside.

The rescue team and local authorities saw puppies confined to wire crates haphazardly covered with blue tarps, some stacked on top of each other.

One exercise pen confined five 3- to 4-month-old Border Collie mix puppies with just one small plastic doghouse and no water at all, only a bone-dry dishpan. When rescuers offered them water, they drank voraciously for almost two full minutes.

How ‘Save A Mutt Rescue’ Got Busted

The seizure followed a tip from a local woman who contacted PETA’s emergency after-hours line. PETA Senior Vice President of Cruelty Investigations Daphna Nachminovitch joined law-enforcement authorities and other animal welfare groups in removing the dogs, many of whom were extremely fearful due to being deprived of human interaction; some of them are still with foster caregivers due to the trauma of long-term isolation. 

In addition to staff from the Patrick County Animal Shelter, animal protection groups from all over Virginia, including Dogs Deserve Better Blue Ridge, The Squishy Face Crew Virginia, Old Dominion Humane Society, and Sanctuary Rescue, assisted in the rescue and removal of the dogs in Haynes’ property. The dogs were distributed among the groups to get assessed, recover, and have a chance at adoption.

Betty Haynes’ court date is February 10, 2026.

Betty Haynes’ History of Hoarding and Neglecting Dogs

In 2011, Haynes was charged with 68 counts of cruelty to animals when dozens of dogs were found on her property in similar conditions. At the time, despite testimony from an expert veterinarian and animal control officials, the judge only took the case under advisement, and Haynes faced no real consequences.

Now, fourteen years and many suffering animals later, several nonprofit charities have had to devote numerous hours and significant resources to rescuing and rehabilitating the canine victims in this case.

Many ‘Rescues’ Abuse Animals

Betty Haynes’ treatment of dogs in her care at “Save A Mutt Rescue” is far from an anomaly. PETA has uncovered many self-described “rescues” that were found to have hoarded, neglected, and abused animals entrusted to them:

• Surveillance cameras inside Woofin Palooza, a self-described “rescue” in Portland, Oregon, caught the woman who ran the facility kicking, punching, and choking dogs, dragging them by their legs, and even stomping on their heads and necks.
• “Angel’s Gate” was a self-proclaimed animal “hospice and rehabilitation center” in Delhi, New York, that received “special needs animals” from all across the U.S.—until it was shut down and Susan Marino, the founder and operator, was charged with 22 counts of cruelty to animals after a PETA investigation. Among several other atrocities at Angel’s Gate, PETA’s investigator witnessed paralyzed animals dragging themselves until they developed bleeding ulcers; one dachshund suffered a wound so deep that it exposed the bone. Other animals needed their bladders expressed every few hours, but instead were kept in the same diaper for up to two days. One dog was denied veterinary care for so long that their rotten jaw snapped in half.
• When authorities raided the K9 and Feline Assistance Program, an “animal rescue” in Tularosa, New Mexico, they discovered “twenty-two dogs [who] were extremely emaciated along with several cats in need of veterinary care, dogs who were “so malnourished they could barely walk,” and eight dead dogs who had been confined to plastic carriers and metal crates without food or water.
• Tiggy Town Rescue in Arizona claimed to care for animals, particularly elderly ones and those with medical conditions, and nurse them back to health. However, according to neighbors, the group’s operator abandoned the animals inside the home for a year and a half and returned only occasionally. According to media reports, six dead dogs were found stuffed in a kitchen trash can, the skeletal remains of another dog littered the living room, and animals’ skulls were strewn around the bedroom. Nearly every inch of the floor was covered with feces. The stench was so pungent that neighbors could smell it from the sidewalk. Twelve dogs and five cats had somehow managed to survive—barely. All of them were reportedly found in poor health and in desperate need of veterinary care. The starving animals had apparently resorted to cannibalizing the corpses of other animals who had died.
• PETA obtained crime scene photos from inside an apartment owned by Cheryn Smilen, a Miami “rescuer” who was sentenced to nearly a year in jail for leaving the cats she had hoarded to starve to death.

How You Can Help: If You See Something, Say Something

PETA only learned about the dogs suffering at “Save A Mutt Rescue” because a concerned person reported it. Without this compassionate person’s alert, Sunny Girl, Wellington, and all the other dogs saved from this hoarding case would still be living—or dying—in squalor.

Never assume that someone calling themselves a “rescuer” is acting in animals’ best interests. Ask questions, demand transparency, and always trust your instincts. If a group seems secretive, overcrowded, or evasive, report it to authorities.