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Colville, Washington |
Saturday, March 20, 2010 |
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A new and better home |
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Wednesday, 01 July 2009 |
Abused dog from puppy mill finds safe haven with Colville animal lovers
BY SOPHIA ALDOUS
S-E Staff Reporter
The story was one so cruel and heartbreaking that it made national news: nearly 400 American Eskimo dogs seized from a Kennewick ken¬nel that officials have dubbed one of the largest and worst puppy mills in the country.
The dogs were taken by po¬lice from Sun Valley Kennel in early June and sent to hu¬mane societies in Washington and Oregon where the ani¬mals were bathed, groomed, vaccinated and spayed or neutered. The dogs also had to be treated for a variety of medical conditions, including parasites and rotting teeth.
Of the organizations that took in the American Eski¬mos, the Spokane Humane Society (SHS) housed 51. One of the dogs that came into the shelter’s protection has found a foster adoption home with local couple Denise Lee and Eldon Leininger, who live on Tiger Highway outside of Colville. The self-professed animal lovers heard of the dogs’ plight and decided to apply for an adoption.
“I used to own an American Eskimo named Misty, and she was my best friend,” said Lee, who along with Leininger, share their home with Sid¬ney, a Pug and Jasper, an English Springer Spaniel. “When I heard about these dogs, my heart instantly went out to them. Eldon and I thought about it and we de¬cided that we could give one of these dogs a new and better home.”
‘It’s been a terrible ordeal for these dogs…’
According to Benton County officials, the dogs seized lived in appalling conditions. Some were kept in shopping carts while others barely had room to spin circles in rusty cages stacked on top of one another and encrusted with feces. Many were kept in a barn in makeshift cages of plywood and rusty metal doors with the windows boarded up and only a single light bulb to il¬luminate the darkness. Some of the animals suffered from overgrown nails, malnutrition and urine burns.
“It’s been a terrible ordeal for these dogs,” said Lein¬inger.
The owner of the puppy mill, Ella Stewart, 66, will go before Benton County Supe¬rior Court on July 9, facing 10 different charges, including animal cruelty and neglect.
Leininger and Lee attended a seminar in Spokane put on by SHS on proper ownership of the abused canines. They turned in a foster adoption application the very same day. Two weeks ago the couple was approved by SHS after undergoing a background check, and went back to the shelter to retrieve the latest addition to their family, a one to four-year-old American Eskimo female they have named Kamea.
It hasn’t been smooth sailing from there though. As is common with abused animals, Kamea has some psychological trauma that Lee and Leininger are trying to help the diminutive dog overcome.
According to Lee, Kamea currently takes shelter in the family’s computer room, hiding between a filing cabinet and the desk. The floor is lined with papers and the cage that Kamea was transferred in from Spokane to the couple’s home stands in the room empty.
“I put a blanket over it and left the door wide open, thinking that she might want to use it for a little hideaway,” explained Lee. “Since she got out she hasn’t been back in it once.”
During the first few nights in her new home, Kamea would whine and cry. She never growled or bit at either Lee or Leininger, but both say she was very afraid of them at first.
“We’d speak to her in a soft voice and hold her and pet her and she would just get the shivers,” said Lee. “You have to remember that these dogs have never known affection of a gentle touch. No one has socialized them and spent time with them, other than to feed them or throw them in a cage to be bred.”
‘It’s a team effort…’
Breeding dogs at puppy mills endure constant breeding cycles and are typically confined to such a lifestyle for life. Dogs who are used at puppy mills typically receive little to no medical care, live in squalid conditions with no exercise, socialization or human interaction.
According to SHS volunteer Barb Ford, it’s common for animals that have been ne¬glected to be overwhelmed by unfamiliar experiences like playing or displays of affec¬tion.
“These dogs are totally un¬familiar with being handled,” said Ford. “They’re leash phobic and haven’t been taught basic obedience. Our job at the hu¬mane society is to familiarize the people who are fostering these dogs with the mind frame the dogs possess and how to help them overcome that, because these dogs do have the ability to change. We’re not going to leave them or the people who have opened their homes to them flat or out in the cold, or however you want to phrase it. It’s a team effort.”
Lee and Leininger have been keeping a journal on Kamea’s progress that they will present to the SHS after a month. Though it’s been an uphill battle to get Kamea accli¬mated to her surroundings, the couple wants to keep her as their own.
“It’s been a lesson in pa¬tience for us,” Lee said. “Be¬cause you can go 15 steps forward, do one thing wrong, then go 20 steps backward. It’s not something that she’s (Kamea) going to get used to overnight.”
The couple praised the SHS for their dedication to taking care of the dogs and being so cooperative with foster homes. Leininger said he hopes in time that Kamea will learn to love the wide-open space she now lives in.
“She has the country to en¬joy, as soon as she realizes that we’re not going to let anything hurt her,” Leininger stated. “She already likes to be in the front room with us and she understands that the boys (Sidney and Jasper) aren’t going to hurt her.”
“She’s here to stay,” added Lee. “We just can’t put her through another transition. No creature, human or other¬wise, should have to go through what she went through.”
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 08 July 2009 )
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