Nine Dogs Were Left to Die in a Wallowa County Basement…the Community Had Other Plans.
By Garrett Christensen on Tuesday, October 10th, 2023 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
ENTERPRISE – Animal abuse and neglect are tragically common phenomena. Be it negligence, apathy, or even pure sadistic behavior, untold numbers of pets and strays either perish in abusive homes or are abandoned on the streets. Thanks to the kindness and dedication of the Wallowa County Community, however, seven puppies and their mother were given a second chance at life.
Just prior to Memorial Day Weekend 2023, the Wallowa County Under Sheriff responded to a domestic call at a rural residence and discovered a sick and abused female Great Dane living in a basement on the property. A brief investigation also revealed a male Walker Hound named Sunny and seven mixed puppies, all starved, dehydrated, and clinging to life.
The Under Sheriff immediately notified the Wallowa County Humane Society, who quickly moved to provide the dogs with food and water until they could be removed from the basement. After roughly five days, the owner officially surrendered the dogs to the Humane Society and the full rescue efforts began. The volunteers would have their work cut out for them, however.
According to Kathy Reynolds, volunteer dog facilitator for the Wallowa County Humane Society, the situation in the basement was beyond inhumane. The Great Dane mother, which the Humane Society simply referred to as Mama, was so starved most of her bones were visible, she was too weak to stand up, and had resorted to eating paint chips off the wall. The puppies, roughly 13 months old at the time, were in even worse shape, with Reynolds describing, “they had literally no immune system whatsoever, according to the vet and the medical records.”
Tragically, the father dog, Sunny the hound, would not survive. At the time, Sunny had Mast Cell Tumors across his entire body, including the bottoms of his feet. In pain and with rapidly failing health, the Humane Society made the tough call to have him put down.
Though Sunny didn’t make it, his puppies and his partner would fight on and pull through. The eight remaining dogs were treated and vaccinated at Double Arrow Veterinarian Clinic in Enterprise. At first, some of the puppies were too weak to even take vaccinations and had to be treated with antibiotics until their strength was built back up. After a few weeks, they all got their shots. Roughly a month after the initial rescue, all the dogs were spayed and neutered.
While the vet handled immediate treatment, housing and caring for the dogs while they recovered and waited for adoption was another challenge. Being relatively small and exclusively volunteer run, Wallowa County Humane Society lacks their own long-term animal shelter. In cases where overnight care is needed, the Humane Society has what Reynolds refers to as “the compound,” a small facility that used to be the Wallowa County Animal Control office some 30 years ago and is now leased by the county. Despite the facility not being ideal for the situation, the volunteers made sure the dogs were cared for. As Reynolds describes:
“And the people, I call them the troops, there were like eight of us that took care of the dogs seven days a week and we would take shifts going up, feeding them, cleaning them, whatever they needed. They were in great care.”
It wasn’t just the Humane Society volunteers pitching in either, as seemingly the entire community rose to the occasion once word got out. After sharing the dog’s story on Facebook, food, pet supplies and monetary donations came at a steady pace, with some volunteers even donating a three-hundred-dollar tarp canopy to give the puppies shade in the compound’s outdoor space. Notably, The Sinclair Brothers Tree Service provided an entire dump truck load of wood chips to spread around the outdoor area, which was only gravel at the time. Because the puppies had lived their entire lives in the basement and never walked on grass, their feet were too tender to handle walking on the gravel, according to Reynolds. The wood chips remedied this and let the dogs play outside without getting hurt.
There was one more notable community supporter, though the Humane Society doesn’t actually know who they are. As described by Reynolds:
“I get choked up just thinking about it, but someone unknown actually paid for the spaying and neutering of the dogs. We don’t know who it was, but we’re grateful for that. I had even asked my own family members that lived in the area, they contributed money as well. It was overwhelming, the support we had.”
Despite their very rough start, the puppies and Mama grew healthy and grew to love people, with Reynolds giving a rather heart worming description:
“All the dogs, including Mama Dog, it was unbelievable how loving they were. They just love people; they love other dogs. You could tell they were just so grateful to be rescued.”
Roughly five months after they were found by the Under Sheriff, all the dogs found homes. Of the eight, only one stayed in Wallowa County while the others were adopted out to families across Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. To date, the Humane Society continue to receive updates from the families, much to the delight of the volunteers:
“I always enjoy getting updates on dogs that I’ve adopted off and stuff and, yes, I’m getting updates on the Great Danes. One of the pups we named Lucy, or she was blue collar. We had them all color coordinated by colored collars just to keep them separate. She is being trained over in Boise to be a therapy dog,” Reynolds noted.
While the Humane Society may be a small team, the effort they put toward rescuing and caring for local animals cannot be understated. The team often works with local law enforcement to take care of stray dogs picked up by officers or even taken from suspects during situations like DUI arrests. The volunteers even work to capture and spay and neuter feral cats from around the county and release them back to help keep the rodent population in check. Also keep in mind that the organization is completely non-profit, with most of its members being retirees that contribute their own time and funds to keep the operation going.
For those interested in supporting the Wallowa County Humane Society, donations are always accepted, and volunteers are always in high demand. Unused and unwanted items can also be donated to the Humane Society’s retail boutique to help cover overhead costs.
More information and donation options can be found on the Wallowa County Humane Society’s website at https://wallowacountyhumanesociety.org/
Updates and news (including videos of the Great Danes) can also be found on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064770248416
