When Delaware Animal Services officers arrived at Jessica Donovan's Millsboro home on July 15, they found 26 animals alive and seven cats dead, their bodies decomposed enough to indicate they had been there for an extended period. Officers described the home as fouled by animal waste and clutter throughout. Nineteen cats and seven dogs were removed and taken to the Brandywine Valley SPCA.

Donovan ran a registered animal rescue called Paws and Whiskers Rescue. She had been trusted with animals through her participation in trap-neuter-return programs. She now faces seven felony and 26 misdemeanor animal cruelty charges.

But charges alone do not address the systemic failure that made this possible. In Delaware, there is no licensing requirement for animal rescues, no mandatory inspection regime, and no capacity limits that would have triggered oversight before seven animals died in cages. Anyone can call themselves a rescue, take in as many animals as they choose, and go years without a welfare check.

That has to change. The Delaware General Assembly must require all animal rescue organizations to register with Delaware Animal Services, submit to regular inspections, and comply with capacity limits tied to verifiable care standards. Rescues that fail inspection should face immediate suspension and mandatory animal removal.

Delaware Animal Services Chief Mark Tobin acknowledged this case involved "an individual entrusted with the care of animals." That trust is extended by every person who surrenders an animal to a rescue, and by every community that supports trap-neuter-return programs. The law must protect it.

Donovan must be fully prosecuted on all felony counts. And the legislature must ensure no rescue operator in Delaware can accumulate dozens of animals without oversight until the dead are found.

Sign to demand both.