Minnesota deputies saw 250 animals suffering at purported rescue. Weeks later, only 70 were left

HINES, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota officials this month went to a purported rescue facility to remove more than 250 animals living in crates caked with excrement — only to find many dogs and cats missing and a pile of ashes and animal bones.

Only 70 animals escaped alive.

A man and a woman who lived at the home in rural Hines, Minnesota, about 80 miles (145 kilometers) south of the Canadian border, were charged with 10 counts of animal torture Dec. 9. The woman on Monday requested a hearing on the legality of the animals’ removal.

“I’m hoping obviously for justice for those animals,” Beltrami Sheriff Jason Riggs said.

Sheriff’s deputies began investigating after receiving a report Oct. 21 about an extremely skinny loose dog and others kept in small cages covered in feces, according to the probable cause statement.

Deputies who visited the property that day gave the owners a week to clean and care for the animals. When deputies returned Oct. 29, they counted at least 250 cats, dogs and horses, not including free-roaming barn cats. Again, they gave the owners time to clean and care for the animals.

By Nov. 12, several dogs and cats appeared to be missing, according to deputies, and an owner said at least one had been euthanized, the probable cause statement said. Dogs were so skinny that deputies could see their ribs and hip bones, and several were eating animal excrement. A few cats had “so little muscle mass that they were unstable when they stood up,” deputies wrote, and other cats’ eyes had burst from untreated infections.

Deputies returned Dec. 6 with a search warrant and rescue workers to remove the animals. Deputies said they found animal bones in an ash pile at least 4 feet long and 2 feet deep (1.2 meters long and 0.6 meters deep).

All 70 animals were taken to the Animal Humane Society, which had to build temporary shelters to house them. Spokesperson Sarah Bhimani said the effort required 8,000 pounds of cat litter, 100 new litter boxes, $5,000 in medications, $1,000 in prescription food and $700 in personal protection equipment for rescue workers.

One unlucky kitten rescued from the house has a broken pelvis and is at risk of losing a leg, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Graham Brayshaw said. Another kitten, now named Korok, is at risk of losing both eyes.

But Brayshaw said almost all the other animals rescued from the house recovered quickly.

“As a whole, they really just needed a really good environment or a good clean environment to live in and to get good access to food, clean water and that sort of thing,” Brayshaw said.

Bhimani said it took time to coordinate help for so many animals at once. She said all the animals went to the Animal Humane Society because of the pending criminal charges and possibility that the former owner could request them back.

“We needed to make sure that we could responsibly care for them,” Bhimani said. “So this was really an all-hands-on-deck situation for us.”

Riggs said his department deals with large-scale animal abuse allegations so infrequently that “we have to break out the books” on relevant Minnesota law. He said Beltrami County, which has a population of about 47,000, does not have the infrastructure or veterinary care to handle such a case.

“When you’re talking potentially over 250 animals, we just have no way to plan for that,” Riggs said.

He also said a review of Minnesota’s animal welfare laws is needed.

“Are we doing the best for Minnesota with the laws that we currently have?” Riggs asked.

Kerry D’Amato, executive director of the animal shelter Pet Haven, said it took too long to rescue the animals.

She said Minnesota law enforcement officers do not have enough training and resources to quickly handle similar situations and there are no state laws regulating foster-only animal rescues.

“It’s not about pointing fingers,” D’Amato said. “It’s about, how can we use this tragic case to make things better in the state of Minnesota? And if we don’t, we’re going to keep seeing it.”