Seized dogs sent to Missouri rescue organization

The 26 malnourished dogs seized from a Payne Street home last month all survived thanks to speedy intervention by Olney police and were transported earlier this month to a rescue operation in Kansas City, Missouri, said Shelby Brogdon, director of the Humane Society of Young County.

“(Survival) is always a concern when they come in, some of them, in that shape,” Ms. Brogdon said. “They were brought in soon enough, thankfully, that they were able to recover.”

On March 24, Olney police found the dogs, of various breeds and sizes, malnourished and filthy when they served a warrant to search 411 Payne St. The animals were kept in makeshift pens inside the home’s closets and bathrooms behind old-fashioned box springs, in an inaccessible part of the house whose doors were barricaded with furniture, Police Chief Dan Birbeck said.

Police arrested the tenants, Jerry Wayne York, 45, and Tracy Lynn York, 55, for ongoing animal cruelty. The dogs were housed at the Humane Society for about two weeks and treated for a variety of ailments, including internal parasites, flea infestations, ear infections, and dental problems, in addition to dehydration and malnutrition, Ms. Brogdon said.

Animal Investigation and Response (AIR), a nonprofit group that assists law enforcement and animal control with animal abuse and disaster cases. provided treatment and sought out a rescue organization that would take all 26 dogs, she said.

“There are not a lot of rescues that would have wanted to (take) all of the dogs. The large dogs and (pit bull) types are harder (to find homes for) because there are so many,” she said. “(AIR) didn’t run the risk of having somebody hand pick the cuter, the smaller, the puppies, the ones that are easier to place.”

The AIR volunteers walked them three times a day and in between they had different types of enrichment to fill the day and working with them to get them less fearful,” Ms. Brogdon said. “They got on a schedule where they learned when feeding time was and they really came around quickly.”

On April 5, AIR transported the dogs in a temperature- controlled trailer with kennels to Wayside Waifs in Kansas City exactly two weeks after they arrived at the Humane Society, she said. “I know that the (dogs) that were in better condition have been adopted,” she said. “Those that were in the worst condition will take a little longer.”