Dog seizure overwhelms borough shelter

PALMER — Valley residents were waiting outside for the Mat-Su Borough Animal Care and Regulation Shelter when it opened Wednesday, hoping to lend a helping hand to staff and volunteers caring for more than 100 emaciated dogs seized near Willow Monday.

“The public help has been wonderful,” shelter chief Richard Stockdale, who has been on the job all of a week, said as he sipped his morning coffee.

Frank Rich, 53, was arrested Monday and the borough seized 157 dogs found on his property, almost all of them malnourished and dehydrated, according to Alaska State Trooper reports. Rich was a breeder of husky/malamutes and told troopers he’d lost his job in October, after which he had trouble feeding his dogs. In addition to the live dogs, troopers found 22 dead dogs, a couple of them still chained up.

Stockdale said one dog found alive has already had to be euthanized due to its condition. There are others the shelter is keeping a close eye on, but no euthanasia was planned as of Wednesday morning.

The influx of dogs has maxed out the shelter, which was already close to capacity when the animals arrived. Some of the seized dogs are in a barn generally used for farm animals. Some are outside. Stockdale said students from Alaska Job Corps in Palmer were due to arrive soon to help nail together doghouses out of donated plywood.

As he spoke, a man asked where he should bring a bale of hay he had out in his car.

Noting that hay is generally transported in pickups, Stockdale said, “That’s a real mess, but I appreciate the straw because we’re going to need all the bales we can get.”

Behind him, Valley residents stacked up bags of Science Diet Advance Fitness Original, the type of food the shelter put out a request for as interested community members called with offers of help.

The shelter is also looking for fencing, plywood, kennels, dog bowls and hay. Monetary donations can be made at a special account rescue groups have set up at Wells Fargo. That would be account No. 9373598334, the Mat-Su Shelter Advocates Fund.

Donations can be dropped at the shelter, at Willow fire station 12 at Mile 69.5 Parks Highway until 4 p.m. Wednesday and from noon to 8 p.m. Thursday, and at the Anchorage Animal Care facility or KTVA-11.

If you’ve been thinking about maybe adopting a dog, now would be the time. The shelter needs to make room and has slashed its adoption fees to $79 for dogs who have not been spayed or neutered and $17 for dogs that have.

The seized dogs are not available for adoption as they have to remain in borough hands until the legal case against Rich has run its course.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.