Dogs removed from Dix sent to rescue in Colorado

The dogs taken from the residence at 214 Spruce Street in Dix have been sent to a rescue in Colorado.

According to D'nette Eastman, Veterinarian Technician for the Prairie Animal Hospital in Kimball, the dogs had been kept at the clinic after being removed by Sheriff Harry Gillway on Tuesday, July 8, coming at a total of 14 days and going against the clinic's policy of only keeping dogs impounded for a total of three days.

"They should have only been here three days, and the sheriff made us keep them here 10 days. If a dog bites somebody, by rights, if they have not had their rabies vaccinations, they are to stay here ten days. Because we observe them. Within those ten days, you're going to see a sign of rabies. It's called a rabies quarantine. But if it's something like this situation, if we impound them, we keep them three business days and then we try to find them homes," Eastman said.

Eastman emphasized the last point, stating that the dogs were not in any harm of being euthanized throughout the process.

"We'll put it on Swap Shop, or we'll put it on Facebook to let somebody know that they're up for adoption," Eastman said.

However, Eastman expressed some frustration with how the situation was handled by both the sheriff's office and Sybil Prosser, President of High Plains People for Animal Welfare (PAW), stating that both entities appeared to back out of the situation without offering much help.

"She's the one that had visited that place twice and was insistent on these dogs being taken away from them, and I just called her and now she said that it wasn't her responsibility, the dogs were not her responsibility. She said that she would just step in and find foster homes," Eastman said. "I just called the sheriff because the ten days were up and the lady gets back to me and says, 'The sheriff said euthanize them. They're not our responsibility, and we don't want to pay the bill.'"

After seemingly being left to handle the situation, Eastman decided to contact a pit bull rescue in Colorado, and a representative for the organization picked up the dogs Tuesday morning.

"I've already gotten it taken care of. [They went] to a pit bull rescue in Colorado. But this wasn't my responsibility. This ended up being laid on us at the clinic, and I don't think that was right," Eastman said.

She also states that the dogs showed no sign of aggression while at the clinic or any signs of being anything other than innocent victims of the circumstances of the case.

"They're sweet. They love to be pet. They get treats. When we took them out in the yard, I had to send pictures to somebody on my phone so she could try to do something for these dogs. All they wanted to do was play. And when I let them out they weren't really aggressive with our dogs around here. They acted like they were almost scared of them. I was stuck with two innocent dogs that really I don't think had done any wrong except that supposedly this lady thought that they were neglected," Eastman said.

For her part, Prosser states that she was unaware of any developments with the situation after the dogs were removed from the Dix property until Monday when she was contacted by Eastman.

"I haven't heard from them since until [Monday] when they called me to tell me the ten days are up and asked me what I wanted to do with the dogs. They're not my dogs. I'm looking for a foster for them, but there's nothing else I can do," Prosser said. "I thought that the owners were doing something to their property that they had to fix in order to get the dogs back. But that was all I heard. I never found out if they actually did it or anything like that."

Prosser has also stated previously that there is not much that High Plains PAW can do other than find foster homes for the animals they encounter as they do not have their own facility.

"I'm looking at [this situation] going, 'Well, okay, if we were going to seize those animals, we don't have any foster homes to put them in. Everybody out here has a foster dog right now. I wish that we had a facility and that's something we're desperately in need of and desperately working on, but until we have a facility built we don't have anywhere for them to go," Prosser said.

Sheriff Gillway also clarified his office's handling of the situation, stating that it was a simple breakdown of communication concerning his office's involvement in the situation and that he in no way would advocate for the dogs to be euthanized or to skip out on the bill.

"I wouldn't do that. And I know that these two dogs would be adoptable, and even Mimi [Shaw] told me that. So no, I wouldn't say go ahead and euthanize them and we're not going to pay the bill. Of course, we're going to pay the bill," Gillway said.

Gillway also states that he had notified the owners of the dogs that they had ten days to take action in order to have the dogs returned. However, nothing had been done on their part to address the situation.

"I went to the house and gave them a written warning. There was a 15-year-old boy there that I gave the warning to. But it was made out to his, I think it was his aunt. I put on there that they had ten days. The ten days passed, and apparently, they didn't care that much for the dogs," Gillway said.