Spokane resident’s 37 dogs up for adoption after handing them over to county
A Spokane resident surrendered 37 small mixed-breed dogs to the Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service, more than 20 of which are now available for adoption at the agency’s shelter.
County spokeswoman Martha Lou Wheatley-Billeter said officers with the agency and code enforcement responded Monday to reports of a home with a large number of dogs.
The officers were not granted access by the resident, but the resident “did admit that they had too many dogs” and voluntarily handed over more than three dozen young adults and puppies, according to a county news release.
Wheatley-Billeter declined to specify where the home was located. The agency has opened an investigation to determine the circumstances of how the resident came to acquire so many dogs, and whether any illegal activity was involved.
At this time, kennel-keeping violations and the fact the animals were unlicensed are apparent, she said. Further charges may be pending.
All of the dogs appear to be in good health, the release states. More than 20 remained in the agency’s custody on Thursday, have been spayed or neutered and are now available for adoption at the SCRAPS facility, 6815 E. Trent Ave. in Spokane Valley.
The release states the agency’s nonprofit rescue partner, SpokAnimal, took in 16 of the dogs. Executive Director Dori Peck said dogs available for adoption can be viewed online. The shelter is open to the public by appointment only.
“They will go fast,” Peck said. “They sure are cute.”
The number of dogs surrendered in this case, while large, pales in comparison to some larger cases of suspected animal hoarding Peck has seen in the past, she said.
Some past cases have climbed into the hundreds, including a 2005 SpokAnimal rescue of more than 100 animals at a rural home east of Tonasket. The next year, officials raided eight trailers north of Blanchard, Idaho, where 430 cats were found living in squalor, as previously reported by The Spokesman-Review.
More recently, SCRAPS seized 171 animals and revoked the license of an Airway Heights kennel for failing to maintain healthy conditions.