Homeward Bound

For the humans of the Flathead Valley, two months can fly by in the blink of an eye; it’s the difference between the slush and gray of February and the tree buds of April.

But for 34 little dogs who used to live on one property in Creston, two months means going from living in their own filth to having families and freedom of their own.

The dogs were seized in February from Muriel Everly, 70, who has pleaded not guilty to animal cruelty charges. The Flathead County Attorney’s Office said Everly faces a jury trial scheduled for July, and thus far, no plea deal has been drawn up.

The three-dozen canines ended up where many of the valley’s lost or unwanted creatures do: under the careful eye of the Flathead County Animal Shelter staff and shelter director Cliff Bennett. Many of them were friendly, though some were wary of human interaction. Most were skinny, wearing sweaters to protect their small bodies from the February chill.

As of last week, all of the dogs seized from the property were adopted out to their very own families.

“There’s nobody left in the shelter itself, so that was a nice outcome,” Bennett said. “One is in a foster home where she’ll probably stay because she is pregnant and about to give birth. The foster people said they’re planning on keeping her.”

Of the 37 dogs taken from the property, 34 were adopted out, Bennett said, because three had to be euthanized due to their medical conditions. Some of the animals had likely never been to a veterinarian, he said.

Another silver lining to the story is how the community has rallied around these creatures, Bennett said; when they arrived at the shelter, Flathead Shelter Friends, a nonprofit dedicated to financially supporting the county shelter, donated $8,500 toward the impending veterinary funds.

“The greatest part of the story was that Flathead Shelter Friends came up with this idea to give everybody a $250 veterinary stipend, and we didn’t advertise that,” Bennett said.

This meant each person who adopted a dog was given $250 toward the vet of their choice, Bennett said, and people who adopted two dogs got $500, and so on. As far as Bennett knows, all the veterinarians in the valley participated.

“Boy, was that a cool thing,” Bennett said.

Nearly all of the dogs were under 25 pounds, but Bennett said the one big dog of the group also found a home: “What a nice dog that one was — it was about as big as all of them put together.”

It was a story with a sad beginning, Bennett said, but what a difference two months can make.

“It started out as quite a worrisome story. Our own vet put in a lot of time, especially on dental work,” Bennett said. “There was a lot of investment the county put into them. The staff is such a loving, hardworking staff.”