Dog day of summer

Dozens of dogs seized; Woman faces possible charges

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

SANBORN -- A convoy of vehicles descended upon a farm southeast of Sanborn Tuesday morning in search of dozens of dogs.

The Brown County Sheriff's Department, the Minnesota Federated Humane Societies, and Brown County Humane Society members parked in and around a farm occupied by Amelia Odegaard, John Davis and several children.

Sheriff's deputies served a search warrant and order to the Stately Township residence at 8:30 a.m. The farm is located in the southwest corner of Brown County.

A couple hours later, a caravan of television and newspaper reporters met in the parking lot of the Inn of Seven Gables motel in Sleepy Eye before making the trip to the farm.

Arriving shortly after 11 a.m., they lined up on a gravel road facing the farm.

Pickups and small trucks full of portable dog kennels filed into the farm yard. The sound of barking dogs could be heard coming from the farm yard as volunteers from the Minnesota Federated Humane Society and Brown County Humane Society rounded up about 85 dogs of various breeds and ages.

The condition of the dogs and their living conditions were such that the Humane Society petitioned the Court to have them removed from the property before such an order could come through the normal court process, the sheriff's department said.

Veterinarians checked the condition of the dogs as they were being loaded into portable kennels and transported to a hobby farm near St. Peter where the Federated Humane Society is caring for them.

Brown County Humane Society President Sharon Seeboth appealed for financial assistance, blankets and dog toys. The BCHS can be reached at 1-800-866-0851.

According to a complaint filed in Brown County District Court, the Brown County Sheriff's Department received a call from a concerned citizen on March 5. The caller said there were at least 50 dogs on the farm and that they did not have proper shelter, food and water.

The same day, Brown County Sheriff's Department investigator Bob Christensen and the complainant went to the farm and knocked on door of the house but nobody responded. The complainant said 60-70 dogs were visible in pens or tied up on the property.

Two days later, the complainant returned to the farm and asked Odegaard and Davis for their consent to investigate the complaint on the property and videotape the dogs. Odegaard and David consented and the dogs were videotaped.

A review of the videotape revealed that many of the dogs did not have shelter in compliance with state laws, the complaint said.

Odegaard faces possible charges of overworking or mistreating animals and dog house violations. Maximum sentence for the first charge is a $1,000 fine and/or 90 days in jail and a $300 fine for the second charge.

Odegaard is scheduled to appear in Brown County District court on Monday, Aug. 5.

Meanwhile, Odegaard was upset by her Tuesday visitors.

"It's been an awful day. It changed our lives forever," Odegaard said. "We've had dogs for 35 years, 13 years here. Everybody knows we had many dogs, many of which were given to us by our neighbors. We realized we may have some doghouse violations. The state laws on doghouses are pretty strict. Some of doghouses didn't have flaps. We never expected to lose the dogs. We don't feel we've done anything wrong. If we didn't love the dogs, we would have destroyed them after the dogs were investigated back in March."

Odegaard said Minnesota Federated Humane Societies General Counsel Timothy J. Shields -- who coordinated the dog removal effort -- knew "zero about dogs."

"He made a big deal about flies in the ears of some of the dogs," Odegaard said. "That's nothing unusual. After one of the dogs chased him across the yard, he said some of the dogs were vicious. That's nothing unusual. Dogs can tell when they are being threatened and they'll protect themselves."

Not all the dogs were removed from the area. Brown County Sheriff Larry Pederson had two of the dogs moved to a Springfield kennel so Odegaard's daughter could use them in her high school graduation photo.

"Sheriff Pederson was very nice about it and did his best to work with us," Odegaard said.