Smell of ‘something dead’ leads authorities to truck filled with hundreds of animals

The smell of “something dead’ lingered around an old moving truck found parked in Fresno on a recent boiling hot day, officials said.

The odor was enough to prompt a resident to notify local authorities.

When animal control officers arrived about 3 p.m. Friday, they “found a horrific situation:” 955 birds, rabbits, piglets, guinea pigs and other small critters in the back of the truck, according to the Fresno Humane Animal Services.

The temperature reached 107 in the back of the truck where the animals were tightly packed with no access to water, the nonprofit rescue organization said.

“The truck was loaded up from top to bottom with bird cages,” said Brenda Mitchell, the organization’s board president. “We immediately went into action.”

Workers descended on the property to quickly and carefully remove the animals from the sweltering truck. As they searched the truck, she said, they found 18 dead animals and others that clearly needed help.

“The first thing was to get everybody food and water,” Mitchell said.

The animals were from a few days old to several weeks old. Workers discovered the cages were filled with ducklings, quail, parakeets, bunnies, love birds, chickens, roosters and finches.

Animal control officials think the animals had been loaded into the truck and prepped for sale. She said the critters were probably going to be sold the next day at a local flea market, she said.

The public demand for the animals has driven illegal sales, she said.

“This is not OK,” Mitchell said. “It’s illegal to sell them in the county.”

The organization and the Fresno County district attorney are investigating the incident, she said. No arrests have been made.

Meanwhile, workers have had to use some imagination and creativity to find places to house the animals and keep them cool at the facility. They created enclosures for the quail to keep them from flying away and filled small wading pools with water for the ducklings and bunnies.

Caring for the animals has been a delicate balancing act.

Many of the critters are newborns and require lots of attention. Mitchell said 10 animals were too frail and died shortly after arriving at the facility.

On Tuesday, volunteers spent the day caring for the brood of young animals, including chopping fruit and vegetables for them, Mitchell said.

But the facility, which usually houses dogs and cats, needs more food and donations to care for the animals.

“It’s a sad situation, but we hope to find them all homes,” she said.

veronica.rocha@latimes.com

Twitter: VeronicaRochaLA