Story Photos
 Georgia Butterfield of Rescued Paws cuddles Levi, one of 20 quarantined dogs from California the animal rescue group is temporarily caring for until the state says they may be adopted. Bill Wagner / The Daily News
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Rescued dogs find new home
Tuesday, November 4, 2008 12:08 PM PST
By Amy M.E. Fischer
Printable version
E-mail this articleDozens of dogs stuck for weeks at a Silver Lake woman’s home because of a health quarantine have been turned over to area animal rescue groups for rehabilitation and eventual adoption.
Volunteers at Rescued Paws, a Longview dog rescue group, expect that by the middle of this week the state will lift the quarantine on many of the 20 small-breed dogs they took from Silver Lake resident Karla Mattila. All-Terrier Rescue, a group from Scappoose, Ore., took 17 dogs that veterinarians had certified were healthy.
By the Washington Department of Agriculture’s count, Mattila still has 34 of the dogs, all of which remain under quarantine until each pup is checked by a veterinarian, vaccinated for rabies, tested for heartworms and issued a certificate of health.
In mid-September, 63 dogs saved from death row at the Merced County, Calif., animal shelter were brought to Mattila’s house by an animal rescue group called Trails of Happy Tails. The same week, Mattila’s friend picked up 30 dogs from another California shelter and brought them to her home. Mattila, who runs Another Chance Rescue at her home on Spirit Lake Highway, adopted out some dogs and sent a few to foster homes.
However, after sick dogs started showing up at local veterinarians’ offices, a staff member at Kelso’s Riverside Animal Hospital who was concerned about the spread of disease alerted the state Department of Agriculture, which visited Mattila’s property Sept. 22 and issued the quarantine order.
Riverside Animal Hospital employees say the dogs’ illnesses included parvo, kennel cough, ringworm, mange, eye infections and giardia, and that a couple dogs were so sick they had to be euthanized.
According to WSDA spokesman Jason Kelly, the department can account for 71 of the 81 dogs present at investigators’ initial visit. Mattila said Thursday she didn’t know how many dogs died. She also said she wasn’t sure how many dogs she now has on her property.
"I make it a point not to count them," she said. "We just kind of wade through them."
The surviving dogs are doing well medically, said Mattila, who had veterinarians visit her house until she was allowed to take dogs to vets’ offices. As soon as all the dogs are health-certified, she will put them in foster homes and adopt them out on the Internet. She’s working with a Castle Rock veterinarian to get the dogs spayed and neutered before adoption, said Mattila, who previously would adopt out unfixed animals, sometimes with a vet’s coupon for a spay/neuter discount.
Even though the dogs remain under quarantine, Mattila already has eight dogs’ profiles posted at PetFinder.com to line up homes as soon as they’re health certified. The dogs’ adoption fees range from $175 to $300. Kelly said his office is aware of Mattila’s online advertising for the dogs but emphasized she may not adopt them until the quarantine is lifted.
Rescued Paws volunteers have been visiting Mattila’s property since the quarantine to erect additional dog runs and dog igloos, groom dogs, clip nails, change bedding, clean cages and bowls and put little coats on shivering dogs, which were stacked in travel carriers and wire cages three and four high in the garage and house.
"It’s an overwhelming job when you have that many animals," said Rick Johnson, executive director of the Humane Society of Cowlitz County. Even though the dogs were well-fed and being cared for, "it’s too many dogs in one area," he said last week.
On Oct. 24, the state allowed Rescued Paws to bring 20 dogs to a make-shift animal shelter at a heated warehouse in the Longview-Kelso area. (The group does not want the shelter’s location disclosed, fearing people will drop off unwanted animals).
The dogs have a 10,000-square-foot fenced exercise yard, and they sleep inside in roomy exercise pens. To prevent germs from spreading, visitors are asked to step into disinfectant before and after touring the facility. Veterinarians and groomers come by regularly, and the dogs are beginning to thrive, with the exception of two dogs in medical isolation.
Wednesday afternoon, volunteers Georgia Butterfield, Laurie Davis and Kevin Culver washed dog bedding and cleaned exercise pens while the lap dogs napped, some paired in the same pen. In the yard, a chocolate lab, a pitbull mix and a couple other large dogs frolicked in the sunshine.
"I would love to get more dogs from Karla," Davis said. "If she would give them to us, absolutely."
Mattila said she has no intention of doing so because she is better able to care for them, and she’s hurt by rumors flying in the Western dog-rescue circuit that she was "in over her head."
Mattila has taken in several shipments of doomed dogs from California rescue groups over the last several months and farming them out with no problems. But the last shipment was different because it contained many sick dogs, which Mattila said surprised and angered her. She called Trails of Happy Tails to complain, she said last week.
However, Trails of Happy Tails volunteers say Mattila knew exactly what dogs she was getting and what medical conditions each had. Mattila hand-picked each dog based on photos and a description posted on Pet Harbor or the Merced County animal control Web site, according to volunteer Sharon Lohman, adding that it costs her group about $1,800 to take a shipment of dogs to Washington.
"She knew every single dog that was coming except one," said Lohman, who provided The Daily News with copies of her e-mail correspondence with Mattila. "She chose those dogs. Every time she wanted dogs, she contacted us and asked us to bring them."
"Absolutely" Mattila knew the dogs were sick, she said. Mattila also knew none of the dogs had been dewormed or medically checked by a veterinarian. However, Lohman said, neither party knew the dogs had corona virus, which is transmitted by fecal contact and causes vomiting and diarrhea.
"Sharon is lying through her teeth about that," Mattila said Wednesday. "Believe you me, I told her not to send me any sick dogs."
Lohman and Kristen Lucas, also a Trails of Happy Tails volunteer, both say Mattila had told people the quarantine was simply a misunderstanding, and that the dogs were fine. She told them that all she had to do was provide paperwork for the dogs to the state, according to Lohman and Lucas.
Although Mattila says she was upset about the sick dogs, she sent out a mass e-mail to rescue groups shortly after receiving them. In her e-mail dated Sept. 19, Mattila writes:
"I am in no need of help, and am happy with all the dogs I took in almost two weeks ago. Many already are relocated to other rescues, shelters, fosters and adopters. ... Another Chance Rescue never takes in more dogs than they are able to care for, nor have we been forced to take any dogs we didn’t want. For the person who so thoughtfully informed others that I was in over my head, please check your facts to my face before spreading rumors to people."
Last week, Mattila said she sent out the e-mail to "shut up the people who were spreading the rumors." She felt she could handle all the dogs on her property, she said.
She now realizes having a hundred dogs is "not a good thing at all, and I’m not going to ever do it again," Mattila said. "I thought it was fine, and I thought it was a wonderful thing"
But if she were to rescue any more dogs from California, she’d make sure they all were spoken for and drop them off along the way back, she said.
Related article:
Canine rescue effort turns into a lengthy and 'challenging' ordeal (Oct. 10)
starfire wrote on Nov 3, 2008 3:20 AM:
funnyone wrote on Nov 3, 2008 8:39 AM:
75CB400FRider wrote on Nov 3, 2008 8:59 AM:
God bless her! "
Rural Citizen wrote on Nov 3, 2008 9:15 AM:
2girlsmom wrote on Nov 3, 2008 11:05 AM:
averageguy wrote on Nov 3, 2008 2:18 PM:
I understand having your feelings hurt, but let's be honest. They weren't rumors, it was the cold hard truth. Mattila WAS in over her head. All the help she has received is evidence in itself. Matilla-thank you for your kindness to animals in need, but please think through your decisions next time before you say "Yes". "
catwomandoo wrote on Nov 3, 2008 3:15 PM:
rainbowface wrote on Nov 3, 2008 5:42 PM:
Kay English wrote on Nov 3, 2008 6:31 PM:
MonsterMan wrote on Nov 4, 2008 12:22 AM:
traveler wrote on Nov 4, 2008 5:16 PM:
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