A Jefferson County woman could have to pay hefty fines after a humane officer accused her of animal cruelty.
The dogs were removed a few months ago, from the home that one pet-lover calls a “black hole.”
We have more on what happened to them.
The Willow Run Animal Sanctuary in Coolspring says it received some of the dogs when they were surrendered from their prior home.
Meet Rosey, one dog the sanctuary says came from the home in the 1300 block of Spring Road near Big Run.
Court records show 18 tickets issued to Sandy Blagdan, 46. That’s one for each dog it states that she neglected on May 31, including 4 puppies, and several different breeds.
The sancutary posted pictures online of some dogs it says came from that home, raising more than $2,000 on a crowd-funding site.
Neighbor Brandee Himes says she got a puppy she named “Dog” from the home four years ago, that’s now grown up.
“He smelled really bad and he was flea-infested. It took forever to get the smell out,” says Himes.
Himes says no one seemed to be living there recently, but a woman would stop by and put in food in.
“They’re just never outside. They’re always over there barking. Never came outside. Never seen them,” says Himes.
Her mom remembers the dogs being taken away by people in special suits a few months ago, and spoke to an animal officer.
“She was just in shock. She did not believe that someone would have that many dogs in a place like that,” says neighbor Betty Ross.
Other neighbors also got involved.
“We were really shocked because that doesn’t usually happen around here. They usually take care of their animals very well,” says neighbor Sharon Bennett.
The tickets say Blagdan deprived the dogs of clean shelter, and some needed vet care.
Now, she’s facing nearly $11,000 in fines, if convicted.
“The main goal for us is to not find a person on a violaton, OK. Our main goal is to stop it before it gets to that,” says Willow Run Sanctuary founder Margo Stefanic.
Stefanic says the sanctuary’s procedure is to see the veterinarian to decide if a dog is clear to enter the sanctuary, or if it should be kept in quarantine for a while.
“We are sensitive to people, but not sensitive enough to say that is gonna be let go. We want to try to get there first so nobody is suffering anything: animal is removed, placed in a better spot, owner is educated,” says Stephanic.
Blagdan has pleaded not guilty to the charges of animal cruelty and a hearing is set for next week.
More of the sanctuary’s pictures of the dogs are posted online at this link.