All rescued dogs find homes, shelter sees rise in animal cases

By KATHERYN HOUGHTON

Daily Inter Lake

The 35 dogs that were confiscated in an animal hoarding case in February have found new homes, according to the Flathead County Animal Shelter.

“It made everyone feel good when the last one went out yesterday,” director of the shelter Cliff Bennett said on Friday. “Gotta hand it to people in the valley, a lot of those dogs were older dogs. But people said, ‘I want to help.’”

Bennett said the Flathead Shelter Friends gave each person who adopted a dog a surprise $250 veterinary certificate to help with health expenses.

The dogs arrived at the county shelter after Flathead County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the home just outside of Kalispell limits and found the animals living in roughly 4 inches of their own feces.

At the time, the shelter took 37 dogs in the seizure. However, Bennett said several had to be euthanized due to major health issues.

The dogs’ previous owner, Muriel Everly, 70, pleaded not guilty in Flathead District Court in March to one count of felony aggravated animal cruelty and a subsequent count of animal cruelty. Her trial is scheduled for July.

Bennett said the adoption timing is ideal. In recent weeks, the county shelter has experienced a sharp increase in stray animals in need of a place to stay.

“The last year or so, our numbers have been at an all-time-low for having animals on site,” he said. “But just in the last two weeks, we’ve taken at least 50 to 100 dogs.”

Bennett said as more people license their dogs in Montana, it’s become easier to reconnect the animals with their humans.

The county took in roughly 1,000 dogs last year, with each spending seven days on-average at the shelter before finding a new home or being returned to their owners. Bennett said the national average for dogs’ stay in the shelter is roughly 20 days.

He said the shelter occasionally experiences a spike in animals on-site in June after school lets out for the summer and people leave their pets behind during a move. But he said he hasn’t seen that happen as early as March before.

Bennett said part of the reason more dogs are wandering in the area in recent weeks could be due to animals breaking loose while their owners are away on spring break, “but honestly, it’s hard to know.”

Reporter Katheryn Houghton may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at khoughton@dailyinterlake.com.