Adopters line up at Bend shelter for seized dogs

Stormy is a dog who has weathered some stormy times. She’s had a litter of pups. She has lived for nine years — that’s 63 in dog years. Last year, however, was the one she was rescued from the storm.

Stormy and 35 other dogs and puppies were rescued from a home east of Bend around Thanksgiving amid charges of animal neglect.

Stormy came into the Humane Society of Central Oregon weighing just 10 pounds. She was one of many emaciated and malnourished dogs in the bunch, officials said.

Now, a new year, and a new Stormy. She weighs a healthy 31 pounds and soon wil be up for adoption at HSCO.

“I went to pick her up, and I expected her to have some weight to her — and she was just feather light,” Shelter Manager Karen Burns recalled Thursday. “It was just shocking.”

The Humane Society worked tirelessly for two months to nurse the dogs back to health. It paid off — so far, 17 of them are well enough to be put up for adoption.

The work came with a price.

“Basically half of our kennels were blocked off to the public,” Burns said.

The shelter had to work around the active neglect case, so they had to keep the animals in privacy. It wasn’t until the previous owners, Goldie Coats and Sonya Henderson of Bend, forfeited their rights of ownership that they could even put the animals up.

“We have to be really careful not to affect what happens to the case,” Burns said.

It’s currently in the hands of the district attorney’s office. NewsChannel 21 asked how much it cost to house and treat all of the neglected dogs since November, but the Humane Society could not say because of the ongoing case. They did say that it was a lot.

“It was really difficult for us to make it work for the last two months,” Burns said.

Although it was hard, Burns said adoption day made it worth the wait and the work. When asked to describe it in three words, she said, “Really really amazing.” So amazing that people were lined up out the doors before they opened to take a look at the pups, after Wednesday’s announcement they were available to adopt.

“Actually I got here early,” a woman said. “I was the first in line.”

By the end of Thursday, four of the dogs had been adopted, and many had holds placed on them. One of the dogs adopted was Stormy’s baby.

As they become available for adoption, their info will be posted at the Humane Society’s Website.