Freedom for puppy mill dogs!

The 371 dogs rescued from a puppy mill in Kennewick, Washington are now en route to new and better lives! Over the weekend the dogs were transferred to other animal shelters and rescue groups in the Pacific Northwest, where they will be placed in foster care and adopted into new homes.
UAN Emergency Services Manager Janell Matthies reported that the dogs are not nearly as fearful and withdrawn as they were when they first arrived at the temporary shelter a few days ago. Under the volunteers' care, they are learning to trust people.

"Many are approaching the front of the cage, looking for attention, and they’re eating, drinking and napping," she said. "They have begun to show interest in us rather than hiding their heads in the corner of their kennels. There are many more waggin tails today than yesterday."

The following shelters have started accepting dogs:

Spokane Humane Society
Spokane County Regional Animal Protection (SCRAPS)
SpokAnimal Care
Blue Mountain Humane Society (Walla Walla)
Humane Society for Seattle-King County (Bellevue)
Multnomah County Animal Control
American Eskimo Heart Bandits
Oregon Humane Society (Portland)
Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) (Lynnwood)

EARS in the news

Read a news article about the puppy mill rescue that features comments from EARS volunteer Heather Ferguson of Surrey, British Columbia.

EARS volunteers like Heather take time off of work and often drive great distances to take care of animals in need. Thank you Heather, and all of the EARS volunteers in Kennewick!

Great news!

Great news! The owner of Sun Valley Kennel has relinquished custody of all 371 Miniature American Eskimos seized from her property on May 27.

Read more.

400 puppy mill dogs rescued!

United Animal Nations (UAN) is assisting the Benton County, Washington Sheriff's Office with the seizure and care of hundreds of dogs from a puppy mill in Kennewick.

Volunteers with UAN's Emergency Animal Rescue Service (EARS) worked with The Humane Society of the United States and Spokane Humane Evacuation Animal Rescue Team (HEART), to assess, examine and catalogue the animals. The dogs will be cared for at a temporary shelter.

The dogs — all Miniature American Eskimos — lived in deplorable conditions: Dogs were confined to shopping carts, while others spun circles in rusty pens caked with feces. The smell of hot urine emanated from the property lined with pens and more makeshift cages, created with plywood and rusty metal doors. Some of the dogs suffered from malnutrition, urine burns and overgrown nails.

Here's a report from UAN's Emergency Services Manager Janell Matthies:

These dogs are absolutely filthy….these are supposed to be white dogs, but all of them are varying shades of yellow to brown. Many have had long-term diarrhea which is causing the matting to be even worse. They are all underweight, dehydrated and have fleas, overgrown nails, severe dental disease, eye problems, worms ….and the list goes on and on. Many are also pregnant or have puppies with them. All of the dogs are frantically scared. They try to squish themselves into a ball at the back of the kennel or some just spin instead, circling and circling their enclosure. It’s heartbreaking to see, but just reinforces the fact that we need to be here. These dogs desperately needed help.

As one of the veterinarians said, “Even ten people working 24 hours a day would not be able to care for this many animals.” All 371 of these dogs were being cared for by one woman.

The field team has also discovered chickens and cats on the site and it’s unknown if they will be coming here as well.

The situation changes almost hourly and all the while the trucks are continuously pulling into the parking lot with more and more identical dogs. The volunteers are working hard to make sure the crates are set up and the shelter is ready to accommodate all of them. They line up patiently at each truck to gently take the terrified dogs into their arms and put them in their clean kennels. The first thing almost every dog has done is drink the entire bowl of water that is waiting for them.

Time to get back to work to get ready for the rest of the animals. It looks like it’s going to be another long day, but a good one. Thank goodness these animals are in our care.

Way to go, EARS team!

Submitted by Janell Matthies, UAN Emergency Services Manager

As I’m getting ready to demobilize this morning, I’m trying to come to terms with all of the animals I got to know, the wonderful shelter staff and residents of Santa Barbara, and all the memories from the last few days.

On the first night, when the front lobby was jam-packed with people and animals, a paramedic walked in. He went to the front desk and asked if he could cut in front of the line as his patient in the ambulance would not agree to go to the hospital unless she was sure her cat was well taken care of. She had been in a mandatory evacuation zone but refused to evacuate and leave her cat. Her caretaker finally decided to call 911 when she started having difficulty breathing because of the heavy smoke. Luckily, communications during this disaster were extraordinary and when the ambulance arrived, they were able to advise the patient of the Santa Barbara Humane Society’s ability to care for the evacuated animals. She agreed to go to the hospital only with the condition that they would stop by the shelter on the way and drop off her cat. Those in lines eagerly agreed to let the paramedics go first so they could continue their transport to the hospital.

So much has happened since that first night. The activity, the emotions, the exhaustion and the compassion have taken their toll on all of us. We’re walking a little slower, and making more groaning sounds as we sit down and get up. Finally watching the goofy basset hounds happily trot away with their tails wagging in perfect synchronicity was a fitting end to our deployment.

But it’s not over yet! I just received word from the shelter director that the EOC called requesting all personnel to stand by. Winds of up to 70 mph are expected to start tonight and many of the voluntary evacuations areas are expected to upgrade to mandatory evacuation areas later this afternoon. The fire is at 80 percent containment however with the predicted high winds headed right into the valleys that have multiple animal sanctuaries, there is a good chance we will still be urgently needed. After hearing the news I debated crying or banging my head against the wall. After considering my options I came to the conclusion that no matter what I did, the situation would not change, so I did the only thing I could...laugh.

Hitting close to home

Submitted by Janell Matthies, UAN Emergency Services Manager

We are wrapping things up today, but I wanted to share one story that has touched all of us EARS volunteers and Santa Barbara Humane Society (SBHS) staff members.

A local EARS volunteer named Nancy (pictured) lost everything in this fire. She came by the temporary shelter on Saturday to drop off her dogs. I made sure she knew we were available for anything: supplies, manpower, moral support. I suggested that many of the EARS volunteers would be happy to come out to her property to help her clean up once their animal sheltering duties are done. The EARS volunteers were very supportive of this, but Nancy was still coming to terms with things.

Nancy runs a wildlife rescue out of her home and has multiple personal pets. Yesterday she came by to ask if she could buy a couple of crates. I told her to bring her truck around. All of the volunteers stopped what they were doing, hugged her and began loading crates, bowls, food, shavings and whatever else she might need into her truck. She cried, we cried. SBHS staff found out about it and they cried, too.

There are many other stories from our time here that have brought us to tears, and even laughter. I will post a few more soon...

Bittersweet goodbyes

Submitted by Janell Matthies, UAN Emergency Services Manager

Yesterday we were able to see many of our new friends go home. This is always the bittersweet part of any deployment. We have gotten attached to the animals in our care and are thrilled to see them happily going home with their people, but it is hard to say "goodbye."

We were able to meet the twins' dad, who came to pick them up to surprise his wife. She had been missing her babies terribly. When he came to get them we were all so excited and taking photos. He confusedly asked, “Are they famous?” To us they are.

The Rowdys' dad came to get them yesterday, too. Unbeknownst to us, they were extraordinarily well trained, however all commands had to be spoken in German. If we had only known...

The animals who were picked up by their relieved owners had to stick around for an extra minute or two for us to locate whichever volunteer had fallen for them. The volunteers walked the owners out and helped load their pets in the car, all while giving updates on their pets' care.

“He ate his breakfast, but only nibbled at dinner." "We went for about four walks today and played ball.” And the oh-so common, “He hasn’t pooped yet today, so he’s ready.” The owners were extremely impressed with the care their animals were given while in the emergency shelter. I’m sure they were only expecting them to be housed safely and that was about it. When they heard in detail about the wonderful treatment their animals received they were in awe. Many kept asking, “How did you find the time?” EARS volunteers always seem to find the time to take animal care to the next level, and watch over their charges as if they were their own.

On Monday we will probably see the remaining animals safely return to their homes. We are all so proud of our hard work and happy that we could help the animals, as well as their owners, during their time of need.