More than 40 animals find new homes after police make seizure

‘Cause For Paws’ fundraiser to help fund no-kill animal shelter in Spearfish

The Western Hills Humane Society ended up in a tough situation after police seized 42 animals, 38 of which were dogs, from an unfit family that had them all trapped in an SUV this past April.

These photos were taken by the Rapid City Journal while reporting a story on police seizing 42 animals, 38 of which were toy-breed dogs, from an SUV in the parking lot at Wal-Mart in Spearfish last April. The animals were surrendered to the Western Hills Humane Society for veterinary care. Nearly five months later, the majority of the animals have found new homes. An open house and fundraiser has been organized to thank the community for their support on Saturday, Oct. 3.

But they prevailed, and next week the no-kill shelter in Spearfish is inviting the community to come celebrate an eventful summer at their second annual open house, to be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3. Later that evening, the “Cause For Paws” fundraiser at Crow Peak Brewing Company will begin at 5:30 p.m. and feature dinner, music and a live auction. For more information, click here.

According to a timeline provided by the shelter, the animals were traveling from one puppy mill to another. After the investigation concluded and an arrest had been made, Spearfish became their new home. But that meant instead of the normal 15 dogs and at the Western Hills Humane Society, they had almost 60.

The Rapid City Journal did a story on the incident, as did more than a dozen other media outlets, which spurred the community to take action and begin making donations — some of which were pretty generous.

To initially help the animals that had been caged and neglected for so long, the shelter closed for two days to administer veterinary care, get them spayed and neutered and find foster homes for the dogs until adoption proceedings could begin.

That weekend the story came out, more than 100 people visited the facility and about that same number applied as potential pet owners interested in adopting the dogs.

It turned out that many of the dogs were pregnant, so by mid-May another 18 puppies were born in the shelter and now needed homes.

Because some of the dogs are simply too young or not quite ready for adoption, volunteers hope that by Christmas everyone will be old enough and healthy enough to find a new home.

As for the woman who was transporting the animals, Lisa Bietzel, 54, of Wisconsin walked away without any charges. Other than spending two nights in jail and having to surrender all of her animals, the judge agreed to just drop the case without requiring any restitution that could have assisted the humane society in caring for the animals.