Large dog seizure overwhelms animal control

PALMER — Having spent three days at the Mat-Su Borough’s animal shelter, most of the more than 100 seized from a Willow-area breeder are starting to show signs of improvement.

“They’re starting to look like they’re a little more active, and I think that just has to do with getting most of them in the care of the veterinarian,” the borough’s Animal Care and Regulation manager Richard Stockdale said.

As of Wednesday, only one of the dogs had been put down. Stockdale described it as an emergency euthanasia on a very injured dog. But for a handful of the dogs — the ones in the worst shape when the animals were seized — it’s still anybody’s guess how they will fare.

“Their ribs are still showing all that kind of stuff,” Stockdale said. “Those are the ones that we’re really kind of keeping an eye on, making sure the food is staying down and they’re not vomiting or anything.”

Overall, the borough said it seized 157 dogs Monday from Frank Rich’s Kashwitna Road dog lot. Nearly all of them were huskies, malamutes or some kind of mix. Rich has since been charged criminally with 50 counts of animal cruelty. According to an affidavit Trooper Shayne Calt filed in the case, nearly every dog found on the property was either sick, emaciated or dead. Two dead dogs were still chained up. Sixteen dead dogs were stacked up in a Connex shipping container. Two more were found in the bed of a truck.

“A total of 22 dogs were dead, although snow cover made it impossible to determine if there were more,” Calt wrote.

In his affidavit, Calt says Rich told him he quit his job in October and didn’t have enough money to feed the dogs. He allegedly told the trooper he fed the puppies first because he sells the puppies. Later in the affidavit, Calt and Rich discuss the dead dogs.

“I asked rich how he thought those dogs had died. Rich stated that they either starved or froze to death,” Calt wrote.

Nancy Crowden said she was the person who initially tipped authorities to conditions on Rich’s property. She said she knows Rich and has even cared for his dogs before a few years ago when he was out of town.

“He told me to feed them for two days and not feed him the third day because that was the only way he could afford it,” Crowden said.

Crowden said she likes to help animal control keep an eye out in Willow so when she heard that dogs were dying at Rich’s place she knew who to call — Officer Darla Tampke Erskine. Erskine went to the property and came back with Calt and a search warrant.

Crowden said she worried about animal control officers going into that dog lot. She knows a lot of the dogs aren’t socialized.

“When I took care of Frank’s dogs for those two weeks I actually carried a .22 with me,” she said.

For his part, Stockdale said none of the officers were injured. He’d heard of one bite, but it was minor and didn’t, as far as he knew, break the skin. He said a lot of animals were skittish and tough to corral. Which, he said, any dog would be, considering strangers had shown up to take them away and it was dark out for most of that time.

Crowden said she hopes a case like this might spur some action on the state level.

“Even if there would have been 500 dead dogs at his place it would still be a misdemeanor in the state of Alaska,” she said. “It makes me so angry. I’m going to contact the governor, every legislator, I’m angry about this. There needs to be real consequences in this state.”

The seized dogs overwhelmed the borough’s animal shelter, which was already close to capacity when the animals were seized. In response, the borough slashed adoption fees to make room and Valley residents rallied to offer donations of time, equipment, supplies and food.

Stockdale said that the only dogs being adopted out right now are animals that were already at the shelter when Rich’s dogs arrived. Rich’s dogs will have to remain at the shelter until the court case against Rich is resolved. That’s a process that could take months. So, for the time being at least, Stockdale isn’t expecting the shelter will return to normal. Though, he said, it might settle down a bit.

“Things will get into a better routine and we’ll have the staff get into that routine as far as taking care of the animals,” Stockdale said. “Eventually, as animals come into better conditions and start doing better that will mean less work for the veterinarian.”

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.