49 dogs confiscated in Marinette County

With the help of the local community, the majority of them have found new homes
By Beth Jones
Monday, April 13, 2009 at 6:01 p.m.

MENOMINEE -- Nearly 50 dogs were confiscated from a Marinette County residence late last week and more remain on the property. But with the help of the local community, the majority of them have found new homes, and officials have high hopes for the rest.

Lab mix puppy, Kevin, is just one of 49 dogs taken from a home in Amberg, WI late last week. The dogs were brought to the Menominee Animal Shelter where officials say they were in better shape than expected.

"Some of them are on medications, the others are fine," explained Shelter Manager, Nancy Dechert. "The dogs were pretty well taken care of, a little malnourished, lots of worms. We're taking care of that situation, it's not a big deal, but other than that they're pretty healthy."

Out of the 49 dogs brought to this shelter late last week, only about a dozen remain. The rest were taken to other area shelters or adopted by area residents.

So far, hundreds of pounds of food have been donated to the shelter. And dozens of volunteers, like Menominee resident Barbara Umnus, have also come to help out.

"I called and said, do you by chance need volunteers, they said oh yes, we do!" said Umnus. "So I ate my lunch, headed right over and stayed for 5 hours, and I never sat down."

Officials say no criminal charges are expected to be filed against the residents.

"People kept dropping off dogs there. They really weren't raising dogs or treating them inhumanly," explained Marinette County Sheriff, James Kanikula. "There were just so many, they couldn't take care of them. In fact, they were glad when somebody stopped by and asked if we could take possession of them and give them a home and they were glad somebody did."

About 15 dogs remain on the property. Authorities expect to retrieve those dogs this week...so that they too, might be given a chance to find a better home.

If you'd like to adopt one of the dogs, call the Menominee Animal Shelter at 906-864-7297.