Centre County’s Board of Commissioners on Tuesday honored Centre County PAWS for its recent and ongoing efforts to care for more than three dozen dogs rescued from a local home.
The commissioners also approved a $1,000 donation from county contingency funds to help the nonprofit, no-kill shelter with medical expenses and other costs resulting from the large-scale emergency intake.
An investigation led by the Centre County Sheriff’s Office human society police officers led to a resident surrendering 43 dogs from a home in March. Commissioner Mark Higgins described it as a “dog hoarding situation” and said the criminal investigation is ongoing.
“I just want to say thank you for, first of all, being there for so many animals in our community,” Commissioner Steve Dershem told PAWS executive director Lisa Bahr. “But I think most importantly in this case, and what’s particularly dramatic to me is, you, at a moment’s notice, picked the ball up and ran it down the field and protected a lot of animals … I think it’s a statement to what PAWS does and you stepping up to partner with us and partner with the sheriff’s department.”
Sheriff’s deputy and humane society police officer Mark Rusnak began investigating the large number of dogs in a home, and on March 13 the resident surrendered six of the animals, which were then taken to PAWS, Bahr said.
“Deputy Rusnak worked with us to do forensic veterinary exams so that he could apply for a search warrant,” Bahr said. “He’d never been inside the home, but was told by many that it was a problem. And there were many other dogs. So, the person willingly surrendered six dogs to us. Their condition indicated that further investigation was warranted, so he he did follow up, and that following Friday brought us 37 more dogs.”
PAWS said in a March 21 release that the dogs showed signs of neglect, many required medical care and all appeared to have no socialization or experience outside the home. Each dog received immediate medical assessment by PAWS’ staff veterinarian, vaccinations, bathing and nail clipping. Some needed treatment for skin infections and severe flea infestations.
Within a day, all 43 were placed in foster homes. All are recovering and “we’re seeing their personalities come through,” Bahr said.
Many will need further medical treatment and behavioral evaluation before they can be placed in permanent homes, though a limited number of small dogs from the group are ready for adoption. (See details about the application and adoption process on the PAWS Facebook page.)
“PAWS has been just a tremendous partner in providing a place for our humane officer to bring animals for them to be cared for, given veterinary checks and then very frequently being able to be placed with folks,” Commissioner Amber Concepcion said. “This was a really dramatic and heartbreaking kind of situation with those the number of dogs that were in that home and the condition they were in. And so thank you for for all the work that you did, and just getting them into homes so quickly is really impressive and speaks to the generosity of our community in meeting those needs.”
The intake included 15 puppies, which PAWS staff concluded came from three separate litters. Bahr noted that one adult dog had abrasions on the top of her back unlike any of the other animals, and staff said it seemed that they likely came from going under a piece of furniture to nurse her puppies.
“A few days later, our officers came in to check in with us, see how things were going, ask us a few questions, and we talked to them about how the dogs were doing,” Bahr said. “And in the course of conversation, they mentioned that they were really moved or surprised to find that one of the dogs had made a bed under a broken dresser that she had a little litter of puppies in. It stood out to me that from the clues that we saw, without any of that information, we were able to discern the state of the home.”
In addition to the $1,000 from the county, PAWS saw swift community support with thousands of dollars in donations.
The largest expenses, Bahr said, are for spaying or neutering and microchipping of each dog, which is nearing completion, as well as staff overtime.
“All of this is happening in addition to the regular day-to-day operations that we’re doing,” Bahr said. “None of that has slowed down.”
Those wishing to help can make monetary donations, and can donate wish list items such as paper towels, pill pockets, peanut butter, fat-free plain yogurt, string cheese, high quality dog leashes and easy cheese.
Bahr also credited county officials for making such a rescue possible.
With the county using American Rescue Plan Act funds to launch the position, Rusnak became the sheriff’s office’s first humane society police officer in 2024, and he was recently joined by Deputy Devan Stoner.
“We really appreciate that that the position of humane society police officer was created, thanks in very large part to [the commissioners’] efforts,” Bahr said. “Without that, this would not have been possible. And the fact that now he has Officer Stoner working with him, I think is really essential to the community and a great decision and a great use of our funds.”
When the county was getting to implement the position, the commissioners brought in representatives of the Central Pennsylvania Humane Society to provide information and heard about a recent Bedford County animal hoarding case involving 90 dogs and eight cats in a single home.
“They gave us sort of a vision of the future about what might happen,” Dershem said. “Deputy Rusnak and Deputy Stoner have been incredibly successful in taking care of so many animals, aside from this particular situation. But we knew this day was coming. We knew someday there would be a severe hoarding situation, and thankfully it’s not as bad as the one in Bedford, But it is, still stark in its volume of animals that were impacted.
“Thankfully, PAWS is there and has been a great partner, as well as Pets Come First and the other folks in the community that do great work. But you stepped up, sponsored our humane officer, and officers now, and we’re just incredibly happy that we’re all working on this together.
