10 Dogs Rescued in Charleston, Man Arrested for Animal Cruelty

A FedEx driver making deliveries near Charleston, Arkansas, noticed something at a property that prompted them to stop, take photographs, and report what they saw.

The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office later arrested 56-year-old Charles Richard Ostendorf in connection with the case.

The office says it is pursuing 17 animal-cruelty charges: 14 counts of aggravated cruelty to a dog, cat, or equine and three counts of cruelty to animals.

By then, the case had grown well beyond the few animals visible to someone passing through. Investigators were preparing to search a property covering roughly 28 acres, while rescue groups and volunteers were getting ready for a late-night response of their own.

Across 28 Acres

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The sheriff’s office says the search warrant was executed at about 11 a.m. With 28 acres to cover, checking the property meant looking beyond the immediate yard and buildings.

A department drone was sent over the acreage and helped locate old kennels and other areas where animals had been confined. The search also uncovered deceased animals in several locations, including remains inside cages.

The sheriff’s office has withheld additional details while the investigation remains active.

The animals that could be removed still needed somewhere to go, and that brought shelters, veterinarians, rescue groups, and volunteers into the operation.

A Van Packed Late at Night

Jenny Bridges, director of Jak’s Second Chance Rescue Ranch, told KATV that the photographs showed dogs that were “just emaciated, covered in mange.”

Her group was about two and a half hours from Charleston when the call came in. It was already late.

“It was 10:45 at night, and we were two and a half hours away, but we got the van packed,” Bridges told the station.

Rescuers reached the property around 1:30 a.m. They arrived in protective gowns and gloves after being warned that the dogs might have a contagious form of mange.

Jak’s Second Chance Rescue Ranch worked alongside the Charleston Animal Shelter, Bubbadog Rescue, The Artemis Project, veterinarians, and volunteers as animals were moved off the property.

Eleven dogs were removed, along with kittens and a goat.

By approximately 5:30 a.m., the dogs had reached the rescue. One died shortly afterward. Bridges described several of the others as being in “very, very bad shape” and told KATV she believed they might not have survived another day in the heat.

All parties are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.