ELIZABETH - A warrant is pending against the caretaker of nine dogs in Wirt County where three were found dead and six rescued last weekend, an official said Tuesday.
Wirt County Sheriff Keith Wilson said that a Wirt County resident, whose name is not being released pending charges, apparently quit feeding the dogs sometime in early June, after he checked on the animals and told The Parkersburg News and Sentinel that there were no problems at the Spring Valley property.
"At that time they were all fed and watered and looked to be in good shape," Wilson said. "Since then their situation has quickly gone down hill."
Last Saturday, Wilson called officers with the Humane Society of Parkersburg to aid in the rescue of the three Labrador retrievers, a shepherd mix, a terrier mix and a daschund.
Wilson said that in June the three puppies that were found deceased at the mobile home were alive and appeared to be doing well.
"On Saturday a neighbor of the property called and said that they could see that one of the pups was dead and when I went I could tell that more than one was deceased, so I called for help with the living dogs," he added. "At that point it had gone too far and I could tell that they needed help."
In early June, a concerned caller told the newspaper that dogs living in a mobile home were being periodically fed and watered by neighbors after their owner moved out of state.
At that time, agencies in the area had received reports of dogs fighting and a foul odor in the area, but Wilson said that he had checked the property and reported there were no problems.
Wilson told the newspaper that the situation with the animals did not constitute animal cruelty and that he had seen dogs in "a bad situation" and the dogs in question were not in such a state.
On Monday, Maryann Hollis, executive director of the Humane Society of Parkersburg, said the six dogs rescued from the property were in good shape because neighbors fed them and provided water. While they were not hungry, the dogs were infested by fleas and worms, but will soon be free of the pests, Hollis said.
At this time the dogs are not available for adoption, but are expected to be listed next week, Wilson said.
"There is a process we have to go through in the state code before the animals can be put up for adoption," he said.
That process includes putting the dogs in a five-day release that gives their original owner the opportunity to claim the animals. In June, it was reported by Wilson that the animals' owner is Cheryl Joy, who moved out of state and left the dogs in the care of the unnamed caretaker.
"Next week we expect for the dogs to be available for adoption and go to good homes," Wilson said.
On Monday, Hollis said she does not expect one of the Labrador retrievers to be available for adoption because of health reasons. She said that he is about 15 years old and has numerous tumors, likely cancer.
