Pets seized in Newport ready for adoption
Forty-five animals seized in a Pend Oreille County animal-cruelty case may be adopted through the Spokane Humane Society because of a ruling this week by the visiting Spokane County District Court.
The dogs and other animals were seized March 25 in a raid at the rural Newport-area home of Mary Ellen Breitenstein Gutierrez, 44, who was charged with second-degree animal cruelty and transporting or confining animals in an unsafe manner. Authorities said Breitenstein Gutierrez was operating a “puppy mill” that treated animals inhumanely, keeping them in enclosures that forced them to stand in feces and water. The charges are misdemeanors, punishable by up to three months in jail. Breitenstein Gutierrez faces a May 11 hearing, in which a trial date will be set.
The case is being handled by Spokane County District Court Judge Annette Plese, because Breitenstein Gutierrez objected to Pend Oreille County District Court Judge Philip Van de Veer.
On Monday, Plese allowed the defendant to keep one dog and a steer and transferred ownership of the other animals – excluding a couple that died – to the Spokane Humane Society. The shelter has had custody of the animals since the raid at Breitenstein Gutierrez’s home on Coyote Trail Road.
Humane Society outreach coordinator Diane Rasmussen said the animals include 22 dogs and a variety of other animals, including chickens, rabbits, five young goats and an ill-mannered pig. Some of the dogs are purebred; some are crosses.
Most of the dogs are dachshunds, but the group also includes English bulldog crosses, a couple of boxers, a schnauzer, a Hungarian vizsla hunting dog and “the sweetest” 14-year-old yellow Lab, Rasmussen said.
Because most of the dogs are the smaller species people prefer for pets, Rasmussen anticipated no shortage of people wanting to adopt them at a cost of at least $84 each. Applicants will be carefully screened, she said.
“Because they came from a situation that was less than ideal, we’re going to want to be real sure we get them in good, permanent homes,” she said.
She encouraged anyone interested in adopting one of the animals to come to the Spokane Humane Society shelter at 6607 N. Havana.
For more information, call (509) 467-5235, extension 20.