Union County man arrested on 10 counts of animal abandonment & neglect

By Shannon Weidemann (McKone) on Wednesday, May 20th, 2026 in Northeastern Oregon News Northeastern Oregon Top Stories

UNION COUNTY – (Press release from the Union County Sheriff’s Office) Joshua Hadden, DOB 4 21 1982, was arrested by the Union County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday charging 10 counts of Animal Abandonment and 10 counts of second-degree Animal Neglect.

At the beginning of May, a local resident found a single puppy wandering in the Fox Hill area. In the same timeframe, another person posted on Facebook that they found nine additional puppies at Fox Hill.

During the investigation, the deputy interviewed multiple people who came forward and said Hadden had puppies about the same age and similar coloring as the ones in the photo. A witness also identified Hadden’s vehicle leaving the area where the puppies were found. Our UCSO Deputy went to Hadden’s house to get a statement from him. After the Deputy spoke with him, she placed him under arrest for the animal abandonment and animal neglect charges.

Hadden is now on conditional release pending his court hearing.

All the puppies have been adopted and are with new owners.