No Justice: 14 Wolf-Dogs Rescued After Being Found Living In Sewage

[Sugar Cookie]

Kansas couple faces multiple counts of animal abuse after 14 wolf-dogs were rescued from a home. Wolf-dogs are a unique breed that are part-domestic dog and part-wolf.

Thomas and Rhonda Staggs were arrested on outstanding warrants when the animals were rescued, and the animal abuse charges were later added.

On May 26, Lyon County deputies and animal control contacted conservation group Guardians of the Wolves as they served orders from Hartford Municipal Court at the . The house had had complaints of noise and excessive animals at the home. The city only allows up to five pets over the age of six.

Guardians of the Wolves CEO Lori Wynn said the scene she walked into was one of the most horrific she had ever seen in her years of wolf rescues.

When authorities and the rescue team arrived, the plan was to take all but five animals, but it was determined that the conditions were not safe for any living being. The animals were up to their elbows in sewage in the backyard. Inside, the scene appeared even worse.

“There were animal feces all over the house, the smell was horrendous but there was a specific room where there were two adult animals kept in cages that is just horrific,” Wynn said. “And then from that room, it leads to a bedroom that there were feces all over and blood all over – that room is where we found two puppies. We were told there were two other puppies that died, so we assume that’s where the blood came from.”

According to Wynn, at least one puppy was found to be inbred from brother and sister wolf-dogs. The puppies are currently in foster care and are slowly recovering.

The adults were extremely malnourished. Many of them were suffering from parvo and heartworm among other diseases. Wynn also believes one was just lost to rabies.

The wolf-dogs were taken to a specialized sanctuary meant for these types of canines, but the location of their new home is being kept private for their safety.

“She (Rhonda Staggs) had threatened that if anyone was coming for her animals, she would kill them,” Wynn said.

14 wolf-dogs rescued after being found living in sewage, Kansas couple arrested

A Kansas couple faces 14 counts of animal abuse after the wolf-dogs were rescued. Wolf-dogs are a unique breed that are part-domestic dog and part-wolf.

www.8newsnow.com

“Two days before we got there two different SUVs pull up, one loaded. They removed a whole lot of puppies from the property,” Wynn said. “Another SUV came and removed a bunch of the adult dogs. We’re very concerned about it because anybody that would help (the couple) is part of the problem here.”

14 wolf-dogs rescued after being found living in sewage, Kansas couple arrested

A Kansas couple faces 14 counts of animal abuse after the wolf-dogs were rescued. Wolf-dogs are a unique breed that are part-domestic dog and part-wolf.

www.fourstateshomepage.com

 

[Bipedalprimate]

Board up the house with them in it and throw a match...

 

[Sejanus]

Scumbags

 

[Brillig]

Maybe they can get together with the guy who had the coyote in his back seat and have a doggo play date.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

A Hartford woman whose mishandling of dogs received national attention spent nearly eight weeks in jail this summer, but she’s now free again.

Lyon County Magistrate Judge Douglas Jones ordered Rhonda Staggs released at a Monday afternoon hearing. She had been behind bars since late June for violating her probation.

“She acquired some more animals,” Lori Wynn with the animal advocacy group Guardians of the Wolves said Tuesday.

But court documents obtained by The Gazette Wednesday show that was not why Staggs had her probation revoked.

A motion fled in late June said Staggs “failed to report as directed, failed to refrain from possessing or consuming alcohol or illegal drugs” and “failed to make payment” to the District Court Clerk.

Staggs now has paid the court more than $570, which may have led to the decision to release her.

“Her probation was extended for an additional 12 months, and they added some additional conditions of probation for her,” an Assistant Lyon County Attorney said Wednesday.

That means Staggs remains on probation until next August, with a drug and alcohol evaluation scheduled within 30 days.

Staggs, 58, received one year of probation last December after pleading no contest to three counts of animal cruelty. The probation terms not only mention drugs, but bar Staggs from “possessing [or] owning any animals.”

“The city clerk lives very close to her and has been watching her,” Wynn said from southern California.

Guardians of the Wolves also has been watching, since it took custody of several wolf dogs from Staggs’s kennel on East Grand Avenue in Hartford in May 2021. Wynn said wolf dogs have been spotted there since.

“A lot of neighbors have reached out to me... They can hear the howling,” Wynn said.

Her husband, Thomas Staggs, also pleaded guilty last year to three animal cruelty counts. He was sentenced to 30 days of house arrest and was not part of the recent action.

Wynn added that she sent Staggs an invoice by certified mail to cover the cost of Guardians of the Wolves caring for the seized animals.

“She declined to accept it,” Wynn said.

In reality, Wynn wants Staggs to sign over custody of the wolf dogs to her group. If that doesn’t happen by the time Staggs’s probation ends, Wynn promises to file suit.

“She should never have an animal again, after the conditions that she put these animals through,” Wynn said.

Now free, animal abuser jailed for violating probation

A Hartford woman whose mishandling of dogs received national attention spent nearly eight weeks in jail this summer, but she’s now free again.

www.emporiagazette.com