Willamina Residents Say Officials Refuse to Help Abandoned Dogs (UPDATE)

Tied on short, kinked chains for weeks on end with no food or water, the dogs appeared to be in misery.

Sheridan resident Karin Corey, standing near one of the abandoned lab puppies in Willamina, Oregon. Photo and video by Tim King Salem-News.com

(WILLAMINA, Ore.) - Update- The dogs abandoned from the house on First Street in Willamina, Oregon, have been recovered by authorities and are now safely located in a shelter. Salem-News.com verified this by revisiting the site Monday afternoon, and talking to the neighbors quoted in this story.

Paulette Grant told us that the dogs were actually set free early that morning by an unknown party, and that police arriving on the site over the publicity contacted the owner of the property and a dog hunt was soon underway. The three puppies and one mother dog were all located and recovered in downtown Willamina. The neighbors said it was a brighter day, as everyone had grown weary over the dog's constant suffering.

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Residents in a Willamina, Oregon neighborhood say dogs abandoned for over a month in the front yard of a run down rental, are in poor health, living without regular food and water, and in need of intervention.

Lee and Paulette Grant say law enforcement officials in this rural community at the base of the coastal mountains, haven’t helped these animals so far, and they are at their wit's end.

"They have been out here in 100 degree weather," Paulette Grant said. She and her husband Lee, along with other neighbors here on First Street in Willamina, say it is heartbreaking and they feel there are few choices anyone can make to avoid what they see as a clear case of animal abandonment.

The owners of the three lab puppies apparently just moved away to another town; Lafayette, Oregon, and left the dogs chained up at this residence in Polk County.

Since they were abandoned, the neighbors have tried to keep the puppies and an older dog locked in the dilapidated house, up on food and water, but one woman who lives nearby, said she was told by a deputy that as long as the dogs don’t look like they are starving to death, government officials won’t do anything about it.

Talk about a Catch-22 for people trying to make a difference.

It is true that shrinking government budgets often take a large toll on our more silent populations. In this case, abandoned dogs in an old lumber town are the victims.

The neighbors on First Street in Willamina say the media was the last hope they had for helping these otherwise healthy dogs, and they say local government is not performing its taxpayer mandated duties, when they fail to address issues of animal abandonment and cruelty.

They also believe that it sets a bad example, and sends out the wrong message to impressionable youngsters being raised under less than ideal economic conditions.

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One group that contacted Salem-New.com today and posted information below, suggested that we look at this story that shows what police do to people who try to intervene and save the lives of abandoned dogs: http://www.dogsdeservebetter.org/doogie.html

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