Hercules's Story
Hercules is sadly representative of every "Terminal" or "Hospice" dog Humans and Animals United "rescues". These dogs bring in big pledges and donations and are quickly forgotten about, left to die a sad and preventable death.
Hercules was pulled from Miami Dade Animal Services (MDAS) by Humans and Animals United in December of 2023. As with all of their dogs, he was heavily marketed across their web of pages and generated many thousands in pledges and direct donations.
As you can see in the post HAAU put up about Hercules, he was supposedly terminal and “rest assured, would be receiving the best care possible”. As you continue to read, you’ll realize what a massive deception this truly was.
Hercules was sent to a woman who had a documented history of having dogs seized by animal control and drug charges. She had multiple dogs, the exact number is unknown, however, reports state that she had nine dogs at one time and records show that animal control had been to her home many times for reports of dog fights and being over the legally allowed limit of dogs.
Hercules was dropped off to this foster by the transporter that works for the rescue without so much as a leash or a collar. HAAU provided no medications, no supplies and no veterinary plan. In fact, the foster had Hercules for 18 months and in this time, the rescue refused to authorize her to take him to the vet for any reason which defies understanding considering the rescue heavily promoted him as a “Hospice” dog that was “end of life”. Shouldn’t he have been on some type of medication for what people were told was cancer? What about pallative care? Hercules received nothing.
When Hercules first came to the foster, he had an ear infection that quickly worsened to an alarming degree. The foster reached out to the rescue’s lead contact – Barbara “Queenbee” about this infection as was told that they “didn’t have the funds” for Hercules to go to the vet, despite having received thousands of dollars in donations for his care. The foster was forced to take him to the vet at her own expense and was never reimbursed. It should be noted that this foster worked at Wendy’s and was on a very fixed income.
In July of 2025, Hercules started developing what were described as “blood bubbles” around his genitals that would burst and bleed. When the foster contacted Barbara “Queenbee”, Hercules condition was downplayed and again, Barbara stated that there were no funds available for a vet visit. Her only advice was to “take a warm washcloth to him” saying that it was “just part of his cancer”.
Why wasn’t Hercules treated in the year and a half that this foster cared for him? Why didn’t this rescue, who amassed over $5K in pledges and even more in direct donations provide Hercules with proper care, the care he deserved and the care everyone who donated towards his rescue fully expected him to receive?
What ultimately became of Hercules will truly break your heart. Hercules did not die from cancer, he died because he was thought to have participated in a dog fight that took place when the foster was at work. Sweet, calm Hercules that she had for 18 months, who never harmed a fly before was implicated in this fight, along with a second dog that belonged to HAAU, but no one was there to witness what actually took place. When the foster contacted Barbara about this, she was told to take Hercules along with the other dog “Fredrick”, find the cheapest vet and have them both euthanized. As if that wasn’t tragic enough, the rescue refused to pay for both dogs euthanization and cremation, requiring the foster to pay for not just her personal dog, but one of the fosters as well. They showed zero concern for Hercules, Fredrick, the foster’s dog or the foster herself.
So much for their post about him loving dogs and humans. Why didn’t this rescue place him in another home instead of euthanizing him? No plans were discussed or even considered to place these dogs in a different home with a calmer environment and fewer dogs. Humans and Animal’s United’s only solution was to kill both dogs – problem solved. Why didn’t this rescue know about animal control being called out to this home for frequent dog fights and why did they continue to dump dogs on this foster even after learning of the foster’s history?
In the end, Hercules was denied medical care, medication and was never afforded any type of treatment protocol that could have extended his life or made his remaining days more comfortable. He died because he was accused of participating in a dog fight and Humans and Animals United could really care less. They simply DID NOT stand by their dog as they continuously claim they do.
He was nothing but a money-making pawn for this rescue, like so many other dogs have been.
RIP Hercules. We are so sorry this rescue could not exercise better judgement on what type of environment to place you in, provide any medical care and allow you to be destroyed as if you were nothing and had never been worth anything more than a money-making opportunity.