Kennel Filth Detailed At Trial Deputies Tell Of Unhealthy Dogs, No Water At Pend Oreille Facility

Pend Oreille County sheriff’s deputies testified Tuesday that they found filthy, cruel conditions at a dog kennel operated by a couple charged with animal cruelty.

In the first day of testimony in the trial of Swen and Jeanette Bergman, sheriff’s Deputy Dave Snipes said he found unhealthy dogs and kennels filled with feces during a January raid at the Bergmans’ Mountaintop Kennels outside Newport.

Snipes also said he found dog medication that had expired and used syringes that hadn’t been properly disposed of.

Some of the pens had food but no water, said Dina Smiley, a sheriff’s dispatch deputy. The dogs were licking the snow for water, she said.

The Bergmans are charged with 21 counts each of second-degree animal cruelty and six counts of illegally removing parts of dogs’ ears. The charges are misdemeanors.

Deputies who raided the Bergmans’ kennel seized about 200 dogs, mostly mastiffs and golden retrievers. Another 15 were found dead and 23 were in such poor health they had to be destroyed.

Defense lawyers maintain prosecutors have exaggerated conditions at the kennel and say deputies who conducted the raid went beyond the limits of their search warrant.

On Wednesday, prosecutors are expected to call veterinarians to testify.

District Court Judge Chuck Baechler is hearing the case without a jury. The trial began Monday and is expected to last about 10 days.