Justice of the Peace Donald Strine ruled that officers who aided in the rescue needed a search warrant before removing the dogs, who were discovered living in a sea of their own feces and urine inside four dilapidated mobile homes and camp trailers a mile off Blue Slide Road west of Thompson Falls.
The dogs' owner, Aleta Rogers, entered a guilty plea to all charges on April 18, as part of a plea agreement that called for a fine of $1,000 on each of the charges and a year in jail to be suspended - provided she paid more than $6,000 in restitution and donations to TRACS, the Humane Society of Western Montana and Sanders County.
“The protection against unreasonable search and seizure is a basic right defined in the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution,” Strine was quoted in the Sanders County Ledger as saying at the hearing last month. The dogs offered no immediate threat to public safety, and officers had “ample opportunity” to obtain a search warrant before the animals were seized, he said.
Sanders County Attorney Coleen Magera said Friday that, after consulting with the sheriff and other law enforcement officials, a decision was reached not to re-file charges against Rogers in District Court, which the state had to do by Thursday.
“There was a consensus that the District Court could well rule the same way,” Magera said.
“It seems really unusual,” Wanda Thorpe, president of TRACS, said of Strine's ruling. “I was not there, but Warren (her husband) was, and it sounded like they didn't look at a couple of key things.”
Thorpe said Rogers was present and allowed deputy Jerry McKeen and reserve deputy Dave Hedley to inspect the trailers where the dogs were kept the day after McKeen discovered them, on March 13, while visiting the property on an unrelated matter.
And, Thorpe added, Rogers' daughter was present on March 15 when Hedley and TRACS volunteers removed the dogs from the trailers.
“We, I think, had permission to be there,” Thorpe said.
But Stine said the “No Trespassing” signs posted on the property meant the owner did not want anyone to enter uninvited. Even though Rogers may have consented for the officers to deal with the dogs, she did not understand what that consent could lead to, he said.
“We have to do things right,” Stine said. “The public has a right and expectation of privacy. It's a constitutional right.”
A dozen of the mostly smaller-breed dogs, who appeared to be unaccustomed to any humans other than Rogers, died during or after the rescue. Seven were put down on orders by the sheriff's department for liability reasons, after they bit their rescuers. Four more were put down for health-related reasons, and one dog was killed by other dogs later that day, while the rescuers were back on the property picking up more animals.
But Thorpe said the story has its bright side, too.
Fifty of the 52 surviving dogs were adopted out to new homes. The only two who remain, Scottie, a dachshund-terrier cross, and Silkie, a terrier mix, will likely spend the rest of their lives with the Thorpes.
“Silkie is a biter who doesn't trust people,” Thorpe said. “She likes us and some of the other volunteers OK, but we can't adopt her out because of her behavior toward other people.”
Scottie, meantime, is both adorable and adoptable, Thorpe said.
“But he's Silkie's best friend,” she said. “They're inseparable, and so we're going to keep them together.”
Publicity about the case also helped the fledgling shelter get going, Thorpe said.
TRACS had been granted nonprofit status less than three months prior to the dogs being discovered, and its founders were just beginning fundraising efforts and the search for a home for a shelter when the dozens of dogs were discovered living in conditions that officials termed “appalling.”
The dogs had food and water, but were confined to trailers where their feces and urine was two to three inches deep.
“There were no windows open and the stench was unbelievable,” Erika Jaegers, vice president of TRACS, said after the rescue. “We found puppies cooped up in little cat carriers, pregnant females, newborns, older dogs - it was all there, over 50 of them.”
Hedley said at the time Rogers was known to keep several dogs on her property, but authorities had no idea the numbers had ballooned so high or what their living conditions were like - until McKeen went to Rogers' house on March 13 to seek information about an unregistered sex offender officials thought might be residing on the property.
He found no one home, but discovered the trailers full of dogs.
He and Hedley, who specializes in animal cases, returned the next day and talked to Rogers about the situation.
“It looks like she got in way over her head,” Thorpe said of Rogers at the time, “and was overwhelmed by the number of dogs. We found two or three that had been altered (spayed or neutered) but the rest were not, and that's where the problem would lie. You've got dogs going into heat, no separation from the males, and all of a sudden you've got 64 dogs.”
Since the rescue, TRACS found property on Cherry Creek Road to lease, and has two trailers at the site. One serves as the office, which also holds stray and unwanted cats, and is open.
“For the $3,000 we had, Rangitsch Brothers of Missoula gave us a double-wide and transported it up here,” Thorpe said of the office/cattery.
A single-wide is being remodeled to serve as the home for dogs, and will have seven “good-sized” indoor kennels with doggie-doors leading to outside enclosed areas with exterior kennels.
TRACS, a no-kill shelter, took in 292 dogs and cats during 2007 and adopted out 254 of them, according to Thorpe.
Part of Rogers' original $6,176 sentence included a $1,000 donation to TRACS, but the $300 payment she put down on the day she pleaded guilty was returned after charges were dismissed.
“We turned in a bill to Aleta for boarding and vaccinations for around $3,800, but I don't know what will happen with that now,” Thorpe said. “It might have to be a write-off - I don't think the county is going to come up with it.
“We've got an extremely tight budget, and we totally operate on donations and adoption fees. The $3,800 is a big chunk. But we'll manage. We've had pretty good success with people stepping up when we've needed it.”
TRACS is located at 526 Cherry Creek Road, 5.2 miles southeast of Thompson Falls. Donations can be sent to TRACS, P.O. Box 1589, Thompson Falls, MT 59873.
More information is available at their Web site, http://www.pet-tracs.com
You can help
The Thompson River Animal Care Shelter is located at 526 Cherry Creek Road, 5.2 miles southeast of Thompson Falls. Donations can be sent to TRACS, P.O. Box 1589, Thompson Falls, MT 59873.
More information is available at their Web site, http://www.pet-tracs.com.
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