Coeur d'Alene animal control seizes four dogs from home

Four dogs living in horrific conditions were recently seized from a Coeur d’Alene apartment. 

One of the dogs was described in the police report as “by far the most emaciated dog I have ever dealt with in my career as an animal control officer.  

“I could visually see its ribs, hip bones, vertebrae, and the bones in its leg. The dog was shaking and could hardly stand, it had mucus like discharge coming from its eyes and nose,” wrote Coeur d'Alene Animal Control Officer Kennedy Main. “Because of the obvious distress I immediately transported the dog to Prairie Animal Hospital to be treated.” 

She wrote that when she entered the Cheshire Lane apartment Nov. 8, there was “an overwhelming smell of ammonia, feces, and urine coming from the unit” and the main living area and kitchen were in disarray. 

“As I was walking through my eyes and my throat began to burn from the horrid smell. There were feces scattered all throughout the carpet, rotten and spoiled food, and fly traps hanging from the ceiling,” Main wrote. 

There were four more dogs, several cats and a few sugar gliders in the home. Two flea-covered kittens were also seized. A family member took the remaining animals. 

Two people in the home were cited on several counts involving animal abandonment, failure to care for animals, lack of vaccinations and too many dogs in a household.

Four dogs have been recovering at Companions Animal Center, including two labradoodle mixes about 6 months old and a black German shepherd about 2 and a half years old. An 11-month-old Malinois puppy weighed about 18 pounds and should have been twice that. It is up to 23 pounds.

CAC staff named the puppies Zane and Zaley, the shepherd Zia and the Malinois Zahara. 

“We've seen so much improvement in the week that we’ve had them,” said Kristina Jensen, CAC dog technician. “It’s exciting to see. They are doing so much better now.” 

She said it was clear the dogs had been lacking food and water for some time and were far below what they should have weighed, especially the Malinois. 

The dogs were covered in dried urine and feces and when given baths, the water was brown as it ran off them, Jensen said.

She called it one of the worst cases of animal abuse she has seen. 

“Just fur and bones. That's pretty much what it is,” Jensen said. 

The situation came to the attention of police when a resident called and said he found a sick dog, a Malinois, in the apartment complex. 

Main’s investigation led her to an apartment. A woman who answered the door holding a young child denied owning the dog in question, but let the officers enter the home.  

Another police officer joined Main and was investigating possible child abuse.

Main wrote that the master bedroom was filled with clutter and spoiled diapers were on the floor and feces and rotten food was scattered on the carpet throughout the room. 

Two medium to small crates were in the corner of the room. One held two smaller dogs and the other a larger German shepherd.  

"The dogs appeared to be wet from urine and feces. The smaller dogs both were experiencing labored breathing from an apparent upper respiratory infection, causing discharge coming from their eyes and nose,” Main wrote. “There was another adult female Malinois in the bathroom where the two kittens and two older cats were kept. There was no water or food for any of the animals to access.” 

The animals were extremely dehydrated. 

Main wrote that after some time, the woman admitted the sick Malinois belonged to her and the man who called police to report finding it. 

“She did not provide a reason for why they decided to call her in as a stray and unlawfully abandon her,” Main wrote. 

Main wrote that based on her experience, the man and woman, “attempted to utilize animal control as an outlet to abandon a dog that they owned. Due to their negligence and lack of responsibility as an animal owner, which was later proved by the conditions within their residence the dog was suffering from life threatening symptoms.” 

Jensen said despite all they went through, the dogs have sweet dispositions. They will continue to regain their health in the coming weeks at CAC and then be placed available for adoption. 

Jensen said they deserve good homes.

"They're still such nice dogs,” she said.