We got a call from a concerned citizen mid-February about a
horrid mess she found out in Ford, Washington in Stevens County. She called us after she called the Sheriff
and was told they might get out there.
We had her call them again during business hours, and ask to have a
Deputy make contact with her, which she did, and that started the ball
rolling. If you ever need turn in a
situation like this, ask for a call back and get a case or incident report
number.
The next day we phoned the Sheriff and gave him so many
contact numbers to help these dogs.
Dan Paul of the HSUS, Nancy Hill from SCRAPS (advisory only) and Dave
Richardson from the Spokane Humane Society.
The Sheriff called CVAS instead.
Their director got the small dogs out of there and to the Spokane Humane
Society that Friday, and on Saturday a crew of volunteers from Stevens and
Spokane and Lincoln Counties emerged on the property. We found garbage everywhere, dead dogs tethered and frozen to the
ground. They had NOT just recently died;
they were skin and bones and appeared to be in a state of decomposition. For any county official to state that this
was new to them, though they had been on the property on a fairly regular
basis, does not add up in our opinion.
We saw garbage and filth everywhere, as the occupants threw
their garbage on the property, with no septic, no outhouse, no running water or
electricity in 2014 in the United States!
Even though it is against the law in Stevens County to let your sewage
into the ground, and not have a septic system, it goes unprosectued!
That day, we were able to get four puppies out from under a
trailer that was not inhabitable, whose eyes were not open yet, they were that
young. They were under that structure
with a dead tethered dog. What a way to
begin life!
The next day we were all back with traps and the work
began. It was cold and wet and the dogs
were hungry and scared. They had been
abandoned which is against the law in Washington State!
Tethering
however is not! Please ask her state
representatives and senators to vote to BAN tethering. These dogs may not have died from
starvation, dehydration and hypothermia had they been able to do something to
fend for themselves. The ones that were
not tethered, lived.
The rest of
the rescue is a blur, with so many off and on the property, caught dogs being
taken to the Humane Society, tempers and emotions running high, wondering how
this ever could have been allowed to happen anywhere in the US in 2014.
When we moved
to Stevens County our Realtor never disclosed the fact that the laws are pretty
much non-existent and that the officials here have tended to look the other way
when it comes to hoarding, puppy mills, and people living without proper
sanitation in Stevens County. They say
they lack funds to enforce those laws.
If these dogs had been children!
Well, that about says it all!
This incident
was not an isolated one, it’s the tip of the iceberg in Stevens County, and
there is a long history of this type of behavior going under the radar. This is not a civilized behavior by
officials, let alone the citizens and it just baffles our minds that this is
allowed today, anywhere.
As the days
progressed, with still one dog running loose, and thankfully nobody from John Q
Public interfering (which we all appreciate so very much) the plight
continues. One old man, living
illegally, who has been feeding this dog to hold her hostage because he has
control issues and will not allow volunteers on his land, the Sheriff says it
is his right to do so, is controlling the fate of this dog. The deputy that came had no issues with
this man; the ownership of this last dog seems to be in question. Because of Stevens County adopting the Code
of the West. http://www.co.stevens.wa.us/commissioners/Commissioners%20Documents/BOCCdocs.htm
And the powers
that be choosing a loose interpretation of the state laws, as we do not have
any animal laws in Stevens County, the challenge grows daily. It is our job to educate, vote, choose
better lives for those whose mental capacities allow them to choose that life,
and for the animals that we should be trying to protect.
Some people
like living this way, hard to fathom.
The county, the Tri County health department, the Sheriff and Fire
Department, the ambulance services, adult protective services MUST STOP TURNING
A BLIND EYE! As well as say,
deliverymen. This insane practice of
see no evil hear no evil, turns into doing evil by doing nothing.
Please keep reading, it is more and more telling as we gather information.
