Animal shelters help rescue 17 dogs from ‘hoarding situation’ in Wilkin County

FARGO (KVRR) – Two local animal shelters were involved in the rescue of 17 dogs from a “dilapidated farmhouse” in Wilkin County.

Homeward Animal Shelter and 4 Luv of Dog Rescue accepted the dogs after they were seized on January 17.

Homeward took in 10 of the dogs, the other 7 went to 4 Luv of Dog. One of the dogs is blind.

 “I was one of the people in that house when we were getting those dogs and their living conditions were horrendous. For them to be now in loving foster homes and now moving into adoptive homes is amazing.” said Heather Clyde, the operations manager at Homeward.

“It means so much to see people really step up and embrace the dogs,” said Erin Buzick, the foster coordinator at 4 Luv of Dog Rescue. “They all have some needs. They’re scared, they’re shy. Some of them have some medical needs and I don’t think anyone has paused for a second. Everybody has really embraced them and give them everything that they need.”

In a social media post, Homeward says the floors were covered in a several inch thick layer of dirt and feces.

“The house has no heat, no running water, and the only electricity seems to be running from an extension cord into the porch, where a small heater keeps the people, and the porch dogs, slightly warmer than the remainder of the house.”

“For 6 weeks, both of our organizations cared for these dogs behind the scenes, waiting for legal proceedings to be done before they would officially become ‘ours’. On February 28th, we finally received word that although legal proceedings were not officially done, the owner had voluntarily relinquished their rights.”