Dozens of dogs rescued from Skagit County kennels
SKAGIT COUNTY, Wash. -- About 170 dogs were seized from two kennels in Mount Vernon after investigators raided the properties and found the animals living in inhumane conditions.
Deputies learned of the kennels from an informant working for animal control officers. Inside they found small dogs, mostly purebred, that had been severely neglected. "The words I want to say I could not say on camera. Because it just appalls me so much, I mean, horrendous, appalling," said Teresa Letellier, who helped rescue the dogs. Letellier doesn't know which of the dogs will make it. One Chihuahua, who was found suffering from glaucoma, may need to lose an eye. "This is very painful," she said. An animal control officer said most of the dogs were found barely alive, covered in their own waste. Many had matted hair from having been left inside small crates. "When you buy a dog from a puppy mill, then this is what you're supporting. They're going to stores, sold over the Internet," said animal control officer Emily Diaz. Most of the pups were put up inside a heated barn at the Skagit County Fairgrounds. KOMO News tracked down one of the kennels deputies raided. The owner claimed her facilities were spotless, that she'd never think of harming a dog. But when we asked if we could go inside and see for ourselves, she refused and left us outside her locked gate. A county notice in front of her property indicated she has applied for a license to operate a kennel named Sundberg Kennels. Animal Control officers said they'd visited the kennel on three occasions in the past, but hadn't made an arrest or removed any dogs. "But there have been a lot more dogs brought onto the property, and the conditions are not adequate," said Diaz. Deputies said more than a hundred dogs still remain at the kennels. They anticipate animal cruel charges to be filed against the owners of the kennels next week. 
