Dakota Access Pipeline protesters were finally evicted from their camp last week, but workers in the immense cleanup operation have had to help out some freezing four-legged residents that were abandoned. Volunteers with the Furry Friends Rockin’ Rescue have found eight abandoned dogs — six of which are puppies — since campers vacated the premises.


With the volume of refuse left by protesters prompting cleanup teams to use heavy machinery, the conditions in the camp challenge even these experienced animal-rescue workers. “It’s a mess down there, so it’s really, really hard to find these animals and get them,” Julie Schirado told KYFR, a station based in North Dakota.

Credit to the Furry Friends Rockin’ Rescue: They have been helping to get the dogs warm, fed, and healthy, and they are doing what they can to connect with any of the animals’ owners:

***Edit: This is about the well being of innocent animals. This is not an outlet to express your views on the DAPL… Posted by Furry Friends Rockin' Rescue, Inc. – Bismarck Mandan on Saturday, February 25, 2017

Despite how bad it has become, the good news is that the protesters have left, and now volunteers and the authorities can finally start the process of bringing normalcy back to the area. The mess they left in their wake is in keeping with the protesters’ general disregard for their impact on everything in the vicinity. Their protests impeded traffic and disrupted the Standing Rock tribe’s casino revenue, while hurting the environment with dangerous levels of trash that threaten the water as the seasonal melt arrives. And of course, when the state finally required them to leave, they burned much of the camp in protest. Leaving dogs abandoned on site to be rescued is a fitting epitaph.


SLIDESHOW: Pipeline Protest’s Fiery Finale

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