Lessons from a Large Scale Rescue/Pirate's Story
The following is a note published on my personal Facebook page in January of 2017. For ease of sharing, and for record-keeping purposes, I have copied it (unedited at this time) to this page. The hoarding case/rescue described in this story was my start in Norrbottenspets as a breed, and the way Pirate came to us. You can find a summary of the case, and information about some of the other dogs rescued, here.
Many of you are aware that Chris and I were involved in the rescue of 98 dogs from a hoarding situation in St. Clair, MI, earlier this year. I’ve shared limited details over the last few months as I was simply focusing on the dogs, and was aware that the case was still open.
Last month, the case ended with the couple involved pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges: http://www.thetimesherald.com/story/news/local/2016/12/09/couple-guilty-misdemeanors-animal-hoarding-case/95189072/
In the last few days, this article and others have been going around social media, with many expressing dismay at the outcome, and the breeder herself denying any wrongdoing. As the one who personally had hands on more dogs from this case than anyone else involved, I thought, with the case now closed, it might be appropriate to share my perspective.
It all started with a picture of some eight-week-old puppies. I saw it on Facebook at about 10:30 on a Tuesday morning. The photo caught my attention, as the puppies looked a lot like Icelandic Sheepdogs. The accompanying message indicated that these were puppies from the house of a Norwegian Buhund and Norrbottenspets breeder who had gotten in over her head – the post stated 18 Buhunds needed to be rehomed, along with several Nobs and mixed breeds. The puppies were supposedly mixes, but they looked enough like Icies, and the other two breeds are similar enough to Icies, that the National Icelandic Sheepdog Rescue Alliance (NISRA) and I determined it was worth a look.
Faye, the president of the Norwegian Buhund Club of America (NBCA), was the main contact person for the situation – she was located far from the action, in Delaware, but doing the best she could to help this breeder out from where she was. It turned out, the breeder lived less than an hour from me, in St. Clair county, and with minimal breed rescue people “on the ground” in the area, I contacted Faye to help – saying I could assist with transport and fostering, and that NISRA would look into the other dogs and mixes and possibly take them into our program, simply to assist with what was already looking to be an unmanageable number of dogs for a single rescue. Later in the day, Susan and Jacqueline from the American Norrbottenspets Association (ANA) got involved and offered their assistance in whatever way they could from across the country in Washington.
The story evolved throughout the day, the number of dogs changed, people across the country started to offer their assistance and to foster. Faye and I spoke and I learned another local Buhund breeder, working with rescue, was planning to meet the breeder at her house and remove the Buhunds. They needed additional transport assistance, and there were several Norrbottenspets and mixes in the house, including a litter of two-week-old Nob puppies and their mother. We were told local animal control was involved but was willing to give the breed rescue groups a chance to take the dogs. As the day went on, plans changed again – the breeder was planning to assist us with transport, and was taking 14 Buhunds to our planned temporary foster location so they could be evaluated and given medical care. I was asked to go to her house, where her husband and an animal control officer were waiting, to pick up the “last four” Buhunds and whatever other dogs I could pull – with the mom and puppies being my priority.
At about 2 p.m., I texted Chris and asked him to pick me up in about an hour, and to fit as many crates in the van as he could. I couldn’t tell him how many dogs, or where they were going, or what we were going to do with them, but they needed to get out ASAP. God bless him, he went forward without questioning anything. For all the people that were involved in making this rescue possible, I’m not sure Chris has gotten enough credit. I was not driving at the time of the rescue, so every dog transport and pick up and vet visit, Chris was there. I couldn’t have done it without him. In the car on the way to St. Clair, we discussed the plan – to meet the other dog transport at their designated location, and to keep the Nob mom and litter and whatever other dogs we could fit in the van as fosters until we figured out where they could go.
When we pulled up at the house, we could hear dogs barking. A handful were in the backyard and jumped up on the gate. The breeder’s husband was standing outside with an animal control officer, who laughed at me when I got out of the van. “You’re going to need a bigger van,” he chuckled. I felt my heart sink as I registered his comment and began to count the dogs that were outside in the yard – already there were more than four Buhunds. The husband led me upstairs to the top part of the house, opening the door to a stench that burned my eyes and nose.
There were nine Buhunds in a small office. A few were in crates, the others loose and hiding under the desk. We had five Buhund sized crates in the car, but I quickly did some math in my head and figured they could manage sharing crates for the car ride back – better than leaving them. Many of these dogs had never left the house they were born in – they had minimal human contact and exposure to the world. Sheer lack of socialization resulted in the dogs being traumatized simply by being asked to walk out the door. When we leashed the dogs, they alligator rolled on the ground, snapping in fear. They didn’t know how to navigate the stairs. As we loaded them into the crates, they pressed their bodies against the backs of the crates, trying to make themselves small and invisible. We were told one had an eye issue that needed medication, and one had been bitten by another dog, “but it didn’t look infected.” Other than those two immediate health needs, they seemed to be in reasonable shape. The rest were healthy, but stinky and fearful, with long nails and coats stained with urine and feces. None were underweight – in fact, some were downright obese.
As we loaded up the adult dogs – the puppies crossed my mind. I asked the husband where the mom and young puppies were. He told me that his wife had already taken them, they were gone. This was not consistent with what I had been told, but I told him okay, and got in the van, ready to meet everyone else with the nine Buhunds in the car. As I sat in the passenger seat, I felt very uneasy. I called the contact I had who was meeting up with the breeder of the dogs, and asked if she was with her yet. She was, and I asked if I could talk to her. “Did you take the puppies?” I asked, and she told me no, they were still there. Her husband probably didn’t want to tell me, because he wanted to keep them. But I needed to take them – I knew it would not be safe for puppies that young at animal control. The breeder gave me an idea of where they would be within the main level of the house, and I told her I would go find them.
While I had quickly grasped that we were dealing with more than the “about 30” dogs we had originally been told, I did not realize the true extent of the situation until walking through the front door of the house. I was greeted by at least 30 additional dogs – some barking from a safe distance away, some crowding around me. I was aware of the feeling of a stinging feeling on my leg, and would later find bruises from wary animals trying to protect themselves by biting, but my brain didn’t process it at the time. There was an x-pen with more puppies, probably around six months old, that could easily pass as Icies. But, with limited space in the van, I had to prioritize. With the husband’s help, I found the mom (who we now all know as Pirate) and two chubby, fuzzy babies, and scooped them up to join the rest of the dogs in the van.
We put her and the puppies in the crate we had filled with a single Buhund, and that spare Buhund rode at my feet in the van. I was overwhelmed – my hands and clothes smelled, my face burned from the smell of ammonia, the dogs were barking in the van, and I realized that no one knew just how big a problem this truly was – much more than the already overwhelming task we had expected to take on. Based on what I had seen and what I knew of dogs that had already been removed from the home, I was guessing there were 60-70 dogs in the house (the number would eventually end up being reported as 98).
When we arrived at the fellow Buhund rescuer’s farm, the breeder/owner of the dogs was there, unloading the dogs she had brought with her. We talked about the situation, she expressed sadness at seeing her dogs leave, and lovingly petted and cooed to the girl who had been sitting on my feet. Her name was Britt, we were told. Their breeder went over each dog, and for all but a few littermates, was able to identify them by name, and in many cases, birthday. We put each dog in their own crate, and put together folders for each with the information we knew about them. They would be evaluated, given vaccinations and dewormer, and transported to foster homes around the country within the next few days. We determined that Berit, the dog with the eye issue, and Tommy, the dog who had been attacked by another dog, would come home with Chris and me, in addition to Pirate and her puppies.
In the meantime, Faye reached out to animal control to determine the fate of the rest of the dogs. Some had been voluntarily surrendered to animal control that morning – most of them were Nobs, and some mixed breed puppies and young dogs had been taken to local humane societies. But there were still many dogs left in the house. Animal control recognized that they would not be able to take in and care for all the dogs involved, and gave us permission to take the next day to remove the rest of the dogs (supposedly including six more Buhunds, and an unknown number of mixes and Nobs). Chris and I planned to go back to the house in the early afternoon, expecting we would need to take several trips to remove the rest of the dogs. Our first order of business was to get to the vet in the morning with Berit and Tommy.
That evening, I bathed both Buhunds. Berit, an older bitch who had spent some time with a handler on the show circuit in her younger days, was generally social with us and the other dogs, and was amenable to being bathed. It didn’t help much – her legs remained stained red and her fur emanated a pungent smell. Tommy was petrified – he froze as I bathed him, trying my best to clean the areas on his hind legs where he had been bitten without hurting him. He trembled when I wrapped him in a towel to dry him off, and he clambered to the corner of his crate when I put him in it for the night.
At the vet the next day, Berit was cooperative for a basic exam. She was overall healthy, and her eye issue was not treatable but was manageable with daily drops that were relatively inexpensive. She was cooperative and social with the vets. We brought Tommy in, who froze, as expected. The vet took him into the back to attempt to shave his legs and clean his wounds – when the vet techs brought him back in, their faces told the story. Without his coat covering his injuries, you could clearly see where had been bitten, again and again. There were dozens of wounds, some deeper punctures, his skin was bright red with infection. He was given antibiotics and we were told to come back the next week to check on his progress. We had already arranged for him, and a few other young males, to travel to a breeder in New Jersey to be fostered long-term, so we planned to have her follow up with her veterinarian once he got there.
Later in the day, as I planned to make the trip back to the house in St. Clair to pick up additional dogs, I got a call from Faye. Animal control had rescinded their offer – they were going in to the house to seize the rest of the dogs immediately, instead of waiting for us to remove them. The media had gotten involved, TV crews were showing up to the house, and animal control was forced to act. For the time being, there was nothing we could do but let animal control take the animals, and work with them to get them into our care after they had been transferred to the custody of animal control. In the meantime, we had 25 dogs needing evaluation, transport and foster homes.
There are several things I hope rescue groups and volunteers who may encounter a similar situation in the future can learn from this experience, with one of the most important being: do NOT contact the media or seek external publicity for a rescue situation until ALL the animals are safe and in your custody. Because of overzealous, well-meaning, but misguided individuals, the rescue process became immensely more difficult at this point, and dogs died because they went to animal control instead of directly into the care of a rescue group. I cannot emphasize enough that premature media involvement is never going to have a positive impact on a rescue situation.
The next week was a flurry of activity – frequent visits to the farm where the dogs were being “triaged,” daily transport of dogs – some staying at our house for a day or two until we could meet someone out of state, or they could come to us to pick them up. Within a few days, all dogs had received vet care and had been transported to foster or prospective adoptive homes. Faye made daily calls to animal control to check on the rest of them – at this point, they were all being held as evidence because they had been seized by a warrant, and could not be released. Some Nobs had been transferred to other area animal controls and were being adopted out – rescue reached out to those organizations to offer guidance to any adopters who were committing to a breed few were familiar with.
Berit started to open up and settle right into our chaotic household – she spent most of her time snuggling with us on the bed, begging for food and enjoying the fresh air and pleasant June weather in the yard. She was delightful and easy going. Tommy struggled for the days that we had him – preferring to hide out in his crate, and doing everything he could to avoid human touch. Unfortunately, with the infection from his bite wounds, he needed daily medication, and it was an ordeal twice a day. He traveled with five other dogs to New Jersey, and received a follow up check from a new vet when he arrived. They determined his wounds were too infected to be managed by simple antibiotics anymore, and he had to undergo surgery to put drains in and more deeply clean the wounds without hurting him. He remains fearful of humans to this day, though he has found a wonderful and patient family who he feels comfortable with. Pirate settled in and relaxed with calcium supplementation and an improved diet, and the puppies continued to be fat and oblivious to the conditions of their first few weeks of life.
We reached out to Pirate’s breeder, Pam, who expressed her desire to take Pirate back into her care, as well as another bitch, Kilo, she had sold to the same breeder. Her whereabouts were currently unknown – from pictures we could find, it did not look like she had been transferred to another rescue group to be adopted. When we called St. Clair animal control, they first told us she had been adopted, then that she had been transferred, then that they could not tell us her whereabouts because it would be “too heartbreaking.” The lack of cooperation from shelters with breeders is distressing – here was a responsible breeder trying to take responsibility for a dog she bred, and she was being given the runaround. Concern about Kilo hung over us for several weeks as the situation unfolded. Pam was in British Columbia, so we determined, for the time being, it was best for Pirate and her puppies to stay in one place until they were older and less likely to be stressed by travel.
Finally, a week and a half after animal control removed the dogs from the house, Faye received a concerning call. Multiple dogs had come down with Parvovirus. We immediately panicked, contacting fosters and adopters, asking them to get a Parvo test and keep a close eye on symptoms. We contacted the other groups that had taken dogs, and discovered not a single dog outside of St. Clair Animal Control had come down with Parvo. Figuring in the contagious period of Parvo, we determined that the Parvo had originated at animal control, and had infected many of the animals who had weaker immune systems and/or were not vaccinated. Because of the Parvo, animal control told us they had to euthanize 14 dogs. They told us 10 others had tested positive – seven went to a local rescue group, two went to another, and one was a Buhund still at animal control. There were 17 dogs remaining at animal control that were at risk of infection. They filed an emergency motion to the court to gain custody of the dogs, and agreed to transfer them to us.
Through friends of friends and sheer luck, we located a kennel that was not only willing but able to quarantine and care for the parvo exposed dogs, and a local veterinarian not only willing to see and treat the dogs, but take the mixes into their adoption program. Serenity Animal Hospital became a familiar destination over the next few days. We first pulled the six Buhunds still in the care of animal control, left the one who was positive and symptomatic with parvo at the vet for hospitalization and care, and took the other five to the quarantine kennel. Two days later, we pulled the remaining 11 dogs – three Nobs joined the Buhunds at the quarantine kennel and the eight remaining mixed breeds stayed with Serenity to join their adoption program. Disappointingly, the dogs pulled from animal control had not left their kennels – their nails were still long, they still stunk, many were ill, and they seemed to be in worse shape than they were when they left the house they had come from. At this point – 42 dogs had come into the care of breed rescues, between NISRA, NBCA and ANA.
Another lesson – the importance of a 501c3, even for small breed rescues. While none of the groups involved in this rescue ever imagined they would encounter a situation of this size, NISRA was the only group with a 501c3 nonprofit status. This status was the only thing that allowed us to pull the 17 dogs from animal control, without it, they would not have allowed us to take the dogs into our care.
The mystery about where Kilo had ended up still hung over us – she had not been at St. Clair, and she was not at the other shelters we knew had taken dogs. She was not one of the parvo positive dogs that had been transferred to rescue groups. But there were 14 dogs that had been euthanized – I had a sinking feeling she was one of them. Still, there were a handful of dogs unaccounted for, and by flipping through posts on the St. Clair animal control Facebook page, I found an offhand mention of the other animal control dogs had been moved to. The first call to them yielded more questions – they wanted to know how we knew they had the dogs, and said they were not available. I talked to a local rescue friend of mine who knew the director, and suggested I go out there and talk to him in person.
So we got in the car, with a couple of crates, and went to animal control, not expecting much. I talked to the director, who, to my surprise, was thrilled that we were there – when I mentioned the situation with Kilo, he said we were welcome to look through the six dogs they had, and, by the way, did we want to take all of them? Of course, I told him, and we went back to look through the dogs. I was wary of getting my hopes up, and I glanced through the kennels – a two Buhund mixes, a Nob, more mixes and… Kilo has a very distinct white mark on the tip of her ear, which was the first thing I saw. It was her, I was sure of it. We confirmed with her microchip number, but yes – this was Kilo! Not only had we found Kilo, and more dogs that needed breed knowledgeable care, but all the dogs had been spayed/neutered, vaccinated, and even professionally groomed. They were in excellent condition.
Three of the dogs were shy but friendly. One was extremely cautious but could be convinced we were okay – especially when she was following another dog. The two youngest boys were absolutely terrified of people. When we tried to leash them up in their kennels, they tried to climb up the walls to get away from us. One of those dogs was in foster care for several months before finding a patient and understanding family. The other is still in foster care. One of the more social girls was adopted the next day, the more cautious girl went to foster care and was adopted within a couple of weeks. Kilo stayed in foster care until she could take the trek out to Pam in British Columbia, along with the other Nob girl, who had an adopter waiting for her out west.
Over the next few weeks, we began to come out of crisis mode and the dogs began to adapt to life outside of an overcrowded home. We were told the breeder/owners were being charged with a four-year felony. The case, unsurprisingly, would take time to move through the courts. Berit was adopted by a lovely family, who also gave a home to two others Buhunds from the original house. Teddy, who had been symptomatic with parvo, was successfully treated. The dogs who were in quarantine came through their quarantine period and began to find homes. Dogs in foster care were spayed and neutered and finding homes. Some of the Nobs were flown across the country to people who had been waiting for them for weeks. Kilo returned to Pam, Pirate’s puppies found loving homes, and Pirate stayed with us. We fostered the shyest of the last group of six dogs for several weeks, as well as another Buhund for a portion of time. Another dog was transferred to us from a rescue group who was struggling with her, another was adopted from St. Clair animal control and brought into our care. At the end of it, we had our hands on fifty dogs. One of the Buhund girls was discovered to be pregnant, and her puppies were raised in foster care.
Some lessons were learned – unfortunately some of the dogs had been placed hastily in the beginning, and there were some bumps along the road for adopters who were not quite prepared for the behavioral issues these dogs would have. Many were very fearful of people, many were unruly and barky and not housetrained. Some were more adaptable than others. Luckily, contracts were signed by adopters, and all dogs were microchipped and monitored once they had gone to their new homes.
Ultimately, it was because of breeders, and breed rescues, that these dogs fared as well as they did. No one organization can reasonably take on 98 dogs, particularly those with special needs. We can speculate all we want about how the situation got to where it was, but the lesson to be learned is that breeders should be cautious about where they send their dogs, and anyone who gets in over their heads in caring for their dogs should not be ashamed to reach out for help. It is important for those in the breed and rescue communities to stay in close contact with each other and offer support when needed, without judgement. There is a lesson to be learned about animal control as well – the case against the owners ended with much of the evidence being thrown out. (Read here: http://www.thetimesherald.com/story/news/crime/2016/11/30/judge-tosses-most-evidence-dog-hoarding-case/94663902/) Animal control had failed to get proper permission to enter the home. No matter how bad the situation, proper procedure must be followed. Unfortunately, they also failed to care for the dogs sufficiently to avoid them getting sick. While the result of the case is disappointing for many, it does set precedent to uphold the rights of animal owners in the future. A simple Google search brings up multiple articles that include photos and information about the conditions the dogs were found in – breeders and rescues are advised to be cautious when placing dogs.
I hope that the teamwork demonstrated throughout this rescue can be an example for others dealing with similar situations in the future. The breeds involved are not common – they never expected to be dealing with a case like this. Having a plan for rescue, and applying for a 501c3 before it’s needed, is essential for any breed club/rescue. There are far too many people that were instrumental to this case to thank everyone by name, but I am proud of the cooperation shown between multiple breed clubs and dog lovers across the country who stepped up to make a difference.
Last month, the case ended with the couple involved pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges: http://www.thetimesherald.com/story/news/local/2016/12/09/couple-guilty-misdemeanors-animal-hoarding-case/95189072/
In the last few days, this article and others have been going around social media, with many expressing dismay at the outcome, and the breeder herself denying any wrongdoing. As the one who personally had hands on more dogs from this case than anyone else involved, I thought, with the case now closed, it might be appropriate to share my perspective.
It all started with a picture of some eight-week-old puppies. I saw it on Facebook at about 10:30 on a Tuesday morning. The photo caught my attention, as the puppies looked a lot like Icelandic Sheepdogs. The accompanying message indicated that these were puppies from the house of a Norwegian Buhund and Norrbottenspets breeder who had gotten in over her head – the post stated 18 Buhunds needed to be rehomed, along with several Nobs and mixed breeds. The puppies were supposedly mixes, but they looked enough like Icies, and the other two breeds are similar enough to Icies, that the National Icelandic Sheepdog Rescue Alliance (NISRA) and I determined it was worth a look.
Faye, the president of the Norwegian Buhund Club of America (NBCA), was the main contact person for the situation – she was located far from the action, in Delaware, but doing the best she could to help this breeder out from where she was. It turned out, the breeder lived less than an hour from me, in St. Clair county, and with minimal breed rescue people “on the ground” in the area, I contacted Faye to help – saying I could assist with transport and fostering, and that NISRA would look into the other dogs and mixes and possibly take them into our program, simply to assist with what was already looking to be an unmanageable number of dogs for a single rescue. Later in the day, Susan and Jacqueline from the American Norrbottenspets Association (ANA) got involved and offered their assistance in whatever way they could from across the country in Washington.
The story evolved throughout the day, the number of dogs changed, people across the country started to offer their assistance and to foster. Faye and I spoke and I learned another local Buhund breeder, working with rescue, was planning to meet the breeder at her house and remove the Buhunds. They needed additional transport assistance, and there were several Norrbottenspets and mixes in the house, including a litter of two-week-old Nob puppies and their mother. We were told local animal control was involved but was willing to give the breed rescue groups a chance to take the dogs. As the day went on, plans changed again – the breeder was planning to assist us with transport, and was taking 14 Buhunds to our planned temporary foster location so they could be evaluated and given medical care. I was asked to go to her house, where her husband and an animal control officer were waiting, to pick up the “last four” Buhunds and whatever other dogs I could pull – with the mom and puppies being my priority.
At about 2 p.m., I texted Chris and asked him to pick me up in about an hour, and to fit as many crates in the van as he could. I couldn’t tell him how many dogs, or where they were going, or what we were going to do with them, but they needed to get out ASAP. God bless him, he went forward without questioning anything. For all the people that were involved in making this rescue possible, I’m not sure Chris has gotten enough credit. I was not driving at the time of the rescue, so every dog transport and pick up and vet visit, Chris was there. I couldn’t have done it without him. In the car on the way to St. Clair, we discussed the plan – to meet the other dog transport at their designated location, and to keep the Nob mom and litter and whatever other dogs we could fit in the van as fosters until we figured out where they could go.
When we pulled up at the house, we could hear dogs barking. A handful were in the backyard and jumped up on the gate. The breeder’s husband was standing outside with an animal control officer, who laughed at me when I got out of the van. “You’re going to need a bigger van,” he chuckled. I felt my heart sink as I registered his comment and began to count the dogs that were outside in the yard – already there were more than four Buhunds. The husband led me upstairs to the top part of the house, opening the door to a stench that burned my eyes and nose.
There were nine Buhunds in a small office. A few were in crates, the others loose and hiding under the desk. We had five Buhund sized crates in the car, but I quickly did some math in my head and figured they could manage sharing crates for the car ride back – better than leaving them. Many of these dogs had never left the house they were born in – they had minimal human contact and exposure to the world. Sheer lack of socialization resulted in the dogs being traumatized simply by being asked to walk out the door. When we leashed the dogs, they alligator rolled on the ground, snapping in fear. They didn’t know how to navigate the stairs. As we loaded them into the crates, they pressed their bodies against the backs of the crates, trying to make themselves small and invisible. We were told one had an eye issue that needed medication, and one had been bitten by another dog, “but it didn’t look infected.” Other than those two immediate health needs, they seemed to be in reasonable shape. The rest were healthy, but stinky and fearful, with long nails and coats stained with urine and feces. None were underweight – in fact, some were downright obese.
As we loaded up the adult dogs – the puppies crossed my mind. I asked the husband where the mom and young puppies were. He told me that his wife had already taken them, they were gone. This was not consistent with what I had been told, but I told him okay, and got in the van, ready to meet everyone else with the nine Buhunds in the car. As I sat in the passenger seat, I felt very uneasy. I called the contact I had who was meeting up with the breeder of the dogs, and asked if she was with her yet. She was, and I asked if I could talk to her. “Did you take the puppies?” I asked, and she told me no, they were still there. Her husband probably didn’t want to tell me, because he wanted to keep them. But I needed to take them – I knew it would not be safe for puppies that young at animal control. The breeder gave me an idea of where they would be within the main level of the house, and I told her I would go find them.
While I had quickly grasped that we were dealing with more than the “about 30” dogs we had originally been told, I did not realize the true extent of the situation until walking through the front door of the house. I was greeted by at least 30 additional dogs – some barking from a safe distance away, some crowding around me. I was aware of the feeling of a stinging feeling on my leg, and would later find bruises from wary animals trying to protect themselves by biting, but my brain didn’t process it at the time. There was an x-pen with more puppies, probably around six months old, that could easily pass as Icies. But, with limited space in the van, I had to prioritize. With the husband’s help, I found the mom (who we now all know as Pirate) and two chubby, fuzzy babies, and scooped them up to join the rest of the dogs in the van.
We put her and the puppies in the crate we had filled with a single Buhund, and that spare Buhund rode at my feet in the van. I was overwhelmed – my hands and clothes smelled, my face burned from the smell of ammonia, the dogs were barking in the van, and I realized that no one knew just how big a problem this truly was – much more than the already overwhelming task we had expected to take on. Based on what I had seen and what I knew of dogs that had already been removed from the home, I was guessing there were 60-70 dogs in the house (the number would eventually end up being reported as 98).
When we arrived at the fellow Buhund rescuer’s farm, the breeder/owner of the dogs was there, unloading the dogs she had brought with her. We talked about the situation, she expressed sadness at seeing her dogs leave, and lovingly petted and cooed to the girl who had been sitting on my feet. Her name was Britt, we were told. Their breeder went over each dog, and for all but a few littermates, was able to identify them by name, and in many cases, birthday. We put each dog in their own crate, and put together folders for each with the information we knew about them. They would be evaluated, given vaccinations and dewormer, and transported to foster homes around the country within the next few days. We determined that Berit, the dog with the eye issue, and Tommy, the dog who had been attacked by another dog, would come home with Chris and me, in addition to Pirate and her puppies.
In the meantime, Faye reached out to animal control to determine the fate of the rest of the dogs. Some had been voluntarily surrendered to animal control that morning – most of them were Nobs, and some mixed breed puppies and young dogs had been taken to local humane societies. But there were still many dogs left in the house. Animal control recognized that they would not be able to take in and care for all the dogs involved, and gave us permission to take the next day to remove the rest of the dogs (supposedly including six more Buhunds, and an unknown number of mixes and Nobs). Chris and I planned to go back to the house in the early afternoon, expecting we would need to take several trips to remove the rest of the dogs. Our first order of business was to get to the vet in the morning with Berit and Tommy.
That evening, I bathed both Buhunds. Berit, an older bitch who had spent some time with a handler on the show circuit in her younger days, was generally social with us and the other dogs, and was amenable to being bathed. It didn’t help much – her legs remained stained red and her fur emanated a pungent smell. Tommy was petrified – he froze as I bathed him, trying my best to clean the areas on his hind legs where he had been bitten without hurting him. He trembled when I wrapped him in a towel to dry him off, and he clambered to the corner of his crate when I put him in it for the night.
At the vet the next day, Berit was cooperative for a basic exam. She was overall healthy, and her eye issue was not treatable but was manageable with daily drops that were relatively inexpensive. She was cooperative and social with the vets. We brought Tommy in, who froze, as expected. The vet took him into the back to attempt to shave his legs and clean his wounds – when the vet techs brought him back in, their faces told the story. Without his coat covering his injuries, you could clearly see where had been bitten, again and again. There were dozens of wounds, some deeper punctures, his skin was bright red with infection. He was given antibiotics and we were told to come back the next week to check on his progress. We had already arranged for him, and a few other young males, to travel to a breeder in New Jersey to be fostered long-term, so we planned to have her follow up with her veterinarian once he got there.
Later in the day, as I planned to make the trip back to the house in St. Clair to pick up additional dogs, I got a call from Faye. Animal control had rescinded their offer – they were going in to the house to seize the rest of the dogs immediately, instead of waiting for us to remove them. The media had gotten involved, TV crews were showing up to the house, and animal control was forced to act. For the time being, there was nothing we could do but let animal control take the animals, and work with them to get them into our care after they had been transferred to the custody of animal control. In the meantime, we had 25 dogs needing evaluation, transport and foster homes.
There are several things I hope rescue groups and volunteers who may encounter a similar situation in the future can learn from this experience, with one of the most important being: do NOT contact the media or seek external publicity for a rescue situation until ALL the animals are safe and in your custody. Because of overzealous, well-meaning, but misguided individuals, the rescue process became immensely more difficult at this point, and dogs died because they went to animal control instead of directly into the care of a rescue group. I cannot emphasize enough that premature media involvement is never going to have a positive impact on a rescue situation.
The next week was a flurry of activity – frequent visits to the farm where the dogs were being “triaged,” daily transport of dogs – some staying at our house for a day or two until we could meet someone out of state, or they could come to us to pick them up. Within a few days, all dogs had received vet care and had been transported to foster or prospective adoptive homes. Faye made daily calls to animal control to check on the rest of them – at this point, they were all being held as evidence because they had been seized by a warrant, and could not be released. Some Nobs had been transferred to other area animal controls and were being adopted out – rescue reached out to those organizations to offer guidance to any adopters who were committing to a breed few were familiar with.
Berit started to open up and settle right into our chaotic household – she spent most of her time snuggling with us on the bed, begging for food and enjoying the fresh air and pleasant June weather in the yard. She was delightful and easy going. Tommy struggled for the days that we had him – preferring to hide out in his crate, and doing everything he could to avoid human touch. Unfortunately, with the infection from his bite wounds, he needed daily medication, and it was an ordeal twice a day. He traveled with five other dogs to New Jersey, and received a follow up check from a new vet when he arrived. They determined his wounds were too infected to be managed by simple antibiotics anymore, and he had to undergo surgery to put drains in and more deeply clean the wounds without hurting him. He remains fearful of humans to this day, though he has found a wonderful and patient family who he feels comfortable with. Pirate settled in and relaxed with calcium supplementation and an improved diet, and the puppies continued to be fat and oblivious to the conditions of their first few weeks of life.
We reached out to Pirate’s breeder, Pam, who expressed her desire to take Pirate back into her care, as well as another bitch, Kilo, she had sold to the same breeder. Her whereabouts were currently unknown – from pictures we could find, it did not look like she had been transferred to another rescue group to be adopted. When we called St. Clair animal control, they first told us she had been adopted, then that she had been transferred, then that they could not tell us her whereabouts because it would be “too heartbreaking.” The lack of cooperation from shelters with breeders is distressing – here was a responsible breeder trying to take responsibility for a dog she bred, and she was being given the runaround. Concern about Kilo hung over us for several weeks as the situation unfolded. Pam was in British Columbia, so we determined, for the time being, it was best for Pirate and her puppies to stay in one place until they were older and less likely to be stressed by travel.
Finally, a week and a half after animal control removed the dogs from the house, Faye received a concerning call. Multiple dogs had come down with Parvovirus. We immediately panicked, contacting fosters and adopters, asking them to get a Parvo test and keep a close eye on symptoms. We contacted the other groups that had taken dogs, and discovered not a single dog outside of St. Clair Animal Control had come down with Parvo. Figuring in the contagious period of Parvo, we determined that the Parvo had originated at animal control, and had infected many of the animals who had weaker immune systems and/or were not vaccinated. Because of the Parvo, animal control told us they had to euthanize 14 dogs. They told us 10 others had tested positive – seven went to a local rescue group, two went to another, and one was a Buhund still at animal control. There were 17 dogs remaining at animal control that were at risk of infection. They filed an emergency motion to the court to gain custody of the dogs, and agreed to transfer them to us.
Through friends of friends and sheer luck, we located a kennel that was not only willing but able to quarantine and care for the parvo exposed dogs, and a local veterinarian not only willing to see and treat the dogs, but take the mixes into their adoption program. Serenity Animal Hospital became a familiar destination over the next few days. We first pulled the six Buhunds still in the care of animal control, left the one who was positive and symptomatic with parvo at the vet for hospitalization and care, and took the other five to the quarantine kennel. Two days later, we pulled the remaining 11 dogs – three Nobs joined the Buhunds at the quarantine kennel and the eight remaining mixed breeds stayed with Serenity to join their adoption program. Disappointingly, the dogs pulled from animal control had not left their kennels – their nails were still long, they still stunk, many were ill, and they seemed to be in worse shape than they were when they left the house they had come from. At this point – 42 dogs had come into the care of breed rescues, between NISRA, NBCA and ANA.
Another lesson – the importance of a 501c3, even for small breed rescues. While none of the groups involved in this rescue ever imagined they would encounter a situation of this size, NISRA was the only group with a 501c3 nonprofit status. This status was the only thing that allowed us to pull the 17 dogs from animal control, without it, they would not have allowed us to take the dogs into our care.
The mystery about where Kilo had ended up still hung over us – she had not been at St. Clair, and she was not at the other shelters we knew had taken dogs. She was not one of the parvo positive dogs that had been transferred to rescue groups. But there were 14 dogs that had been euthanized – I had a sinking feeling she was one of them. Still, there were a handful of dogs unaccounted for, and by flipping through posts on the St. Clair animal control Facebook page, I found an offhand mention of the other animal control dogs had been moved to. The first call to them yielded more questions – they wanted to know how we knew they had the dogs, and said they were not available. I talked to a local rescue friend of mine who knew the director, and suggested I go out there and talk to him in person.
So we got in the car, with a couple of crates, and went to animal control, not expecting much. I talked to the director, who, to my surprise, was thrilled that we were there – when I mentioned the situation with Kilo, he said we were welcome to look through the six dogs they had, and, by the way, did we want to take all of them? Of course, I told him, and we went back to look through the dogs. I was wary of getting my hopes up, and I glanced through the kennels – a two Buhund mixes, a Nob, more mixes and… Kilo has a very distinct white mark on the tip of her ear, which was the first thing I saw. It was her, I was sure of it. We confirmed with her microchip number, but yes – this was Kilo! Not only had we found Kilo, and more dogs that needed breed knowledgeable care, but all the dogs had been spayed/neutered, vaccinated, and even professionally groomed. They were in excellent condition.
Three of the dogs were shy but friendly. One was extremely cautious but could be convinced we were okay – especially when she was following another dog. The two youngest boys were absolutely terrified of people. When we tried to leash them up in their kennels, they tried to climb up the walls to get away from us. One of those dogs was in foster care for several months before finding a patient and understanding family. The other is still in foster care. One of the more social girls was adopted the next day, the more cautious girl went to foster care and was adopted within a couple of weeks. Kilo stayed in foster care until she could take the trek out to Pam in British Columbia, along with the other Nob girl, who had an adopter waiting for her out west.
Over the next few weeks, we began to come out of crisis mode and the dogs began to adapt to life outside of an overcrowded home. We were told the breeder/owners were being charged with a four-year felony. The case, unsurprisingly, would take time to move through the courts. Berit was adopted by a lovely family, who also gave a home to two others Buhunds from the original house. Teddy, who had been symptomatic with parvo, was successfully treated. The dogs who were in quarantine came through their quarantine period and began to find homes. Dogs in foster care were spayed and neutered and finding homes. Some of the Nobs were flown across the country to people who had been waiting for them for weeks. Kilo returned to Pam, Pirate’s puppies found loving homes, and Pirate stayed with us. We fostered the shyest of the last group of six dogs for several weeks, as well as another Buhund for a portion of time. Another dog was transferred to us from a rescue group who was struggling with her, another was adopted from St. Clair animal control and brought into our care. At the end of it, we had our hands on fifty dogs. One of the Buhund girls was discovered to be pregnant, and her puppies were raised in foster care.
Some lessons were learned – unfortunately some of the dogs had been placed hastily in the beginning, and there were some bumps along the road for adopters who were not quite prepared for the behavioral issues these dogs would have. Many were very fearful of people, many were unruly and barky and not housetrained. Some were more adaptable than others. Luckily, contracts were signed by adopters, and all dogs were microchipped and monitored once they had gone to their new homes.
Ultimately, it was because of breeders, and breed rescues, that these dogs fared as well as they did. No one organization can reasonably take on 98 dogs, particularly those with special needs. We can speculate all we want about how the situation got to where it was, but the lesson to be learned is that breeders should be cautious about where they send their dogs, and anyone who gets in over their heads in caring for their dogs should not be ashamed to reach out for help. It is important for those in the breed and rescue communities to stay in close contact with each other and offer support when needed, without judgement. There is a lesson to be learned about animal control as well – the case against the owners ended with much of the evidence being thrown out. (Read here: http://www.thetimesherald.com/story/news/crime/2016/11/30/judge-tosses-most-evidence-dog-hoarding-case/94663902/) Animal control had failed to get proper permission to enter the home. No matter how bad the situation, proper procedure must be followed. Unfortunately, they also failed to care for the dogs sufficiently to avoid them getting sick. While the result of the case is disappointing for many, it does set precedent to uphold the rights of animal owners in the future. A simple Google search brings up multiple articles that include photos and information about the conditions the dogs were found in – breeders and rescues are advised to be cautious when placing dogs.
I hope that the teamwork demonstrated throughout this rescue can be an example for others dealing with similar situations in the future. The breeds involved are not common – they never expected to be dealing with a case like this. Having a plan for rescue, and applying for a 501c3 before it’s needed, is essential for any breed club/rescue. There are far too many people that were instrumental to this case to thank everyone by name, but I am proud of the cooperation shown between multiple breed clubs and dog lovers across the country who stepped up to make a difference.