Star Tribune
Andover animal rescue dumped 8 dead puppies along road after ‘painful and prolonged demise’
The founder of a Twin Cities animal rescue organization has been charged with nearly two dozen counts of animal mistreatment after eight dead puppies were found dumped along a road in Cottage Grove last fall, just a few days before the discovery of many other dogs in squalid conditions at her facility in Anoka County.
Carley M. Ryan, 36, of St. Paul, was charged Monday in Anoka County District Court with 22 animal mistreatment counts in all, four of them felonies. That’s after an off-duty police officer came upon the puppies on Oct. 15 in the tree line near Grey Cloud Island Drive.
The discarded dogs were a smaller breed and included a Schnauzer and other similar-sized white dogs, which could also be a terrier breed, police said.
Ryan, the operator of For Furever in Andover, was charged by summons and is due in court on March 22. A message was left with Ryan seeking a response to the allegations. Court records do not list an attorney.
Questioned by law enforcement, Ryan said she acquired the puppies found in Cottage Grove from an auction on Sept. 30, and they all contracted a severe gastrointestinal virus about a week later, the charges read. She said they all died over the next week or so without having received any veterinary care, the charges continued.
“The failure to render any medical aid or medication for pain management means that the eight deceased puppies went through a painful and prolonged demise prior to their natural death at the Andover facility,” the criminal complaint disclosed. “[Ryan] indicated that all [eight] dogs died naturally, and none were humanely euthanized.”
Each count against Ryan stemming from the discovery in her Andover facility relates to a specific dog. Each dog’s name started with the letter G, among them Glimmer, Georgia and Gooseberry.
The breeds included great Dane, Australian cattle dog, Irish setter mix, English mastiff, shepherd mix, American pit bull terrier, terrier mix, standard poodle mix, miniature poodle and bulldog.
According to the charges, Cottage Grove police alerted the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office on Oct. 18 about their suspicion that the abandoned dogs were related to animal cruelty occurring at For Furever.
A sheriff’s investigator went to the facility the next day and noticed a strong scent of feces from outside. He looked in and saw several dogs running loose and many other dogs in kennels.
On Oct. 20, deputies, an Animal Humane Society agent and a veterinarian went in and “were met by an overwhelming odor of feces and urine,” the charges read.
The caged dogs were in undersized enclosures that lacked bedding, food or water. All 22 dogs had some form of fecal or urinary injuries to their paws, along with urine stains and feces matted in their coat.
Rain and potentially heavy snow are on tap Thursday around the Twin Cities, just before families set out for Halloween trick-or-treating.
Temperatures were expected to drop throughout the day, creating conditions for flurries. A winter weather advisory is in effect from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. covering the Twin Cities metro area and parts of south-central Minnesota. Steady rain drenched the Twin Cities on Thursday, making for a soggy morning commute.
“As colder air begins to move in this morning, the rain will transition to heavy snow from west to east with snowfall rates of an inch per hour at times into early afternoon,” the National Weather Service in Chanhassen said in a weather advisory.
The Twin Cities and surrounding areas could get between 2 and 4 inches of snow, according to the weather service. The winter weather advisory is expected to affect Anoka, Chisago, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, Washington and Le Sueur counties.
It’s unclear how much of the snow will actually stick, with warm surface temperatures likely leading to melting on contact in many areas.
“Exact totals will depend on snowfall rate, surface temperatures, and melting — which increases uncertainty with the snow forecast,” the weather service said in an early Thursday briefing.
“Thundersnow possible!” the weather service emphasized.
The good news for Halloween revelers is that the snow and rain are expected to wrap up in time for trick-or-treating, though temperatures will remain in the 30s with a sharp windchill.
An off-duty Washington County sheriff’s deputy caused a head-on crash while under the influence of alcohol and injured a couple in the other vehicle, officials said.
The crash occurred about 10:40 a.m. Sunday in Afton on Hwy. 95 at Scenic Lane, the Minnesota State Patrol said.
Campbell Johnston Blair, 58, of Hastings, was heading north in his Subaru Crosstrek, crossed into the opposite lane and collided with a southbound Ford Expedition, the patrol said.
Blair and the other vehicle’s occupants, 38-year-old Erik Robert Sward and 36-year-old Heather Lynn Sward, both of Lake Elmo, were taken to Regions Hospital with non-critical injuries, according to the patrol.
The patrol noted the alcohol use by Blair was involved in the crash.
Blair, who was driving a private vehicle at the time of the crash while off-duty, has been a deputy with the Sheriff’s Office since 2020 and is currently assigned to our Court Security Unit.
The Sheriff’s Office has been asked for reaction to the crash involving one of its deputies.
ST. CLOUD – On Tuesday, St. Cloud voters will be asked to make decisions on a new fire station and moving city elections to odd years, and — for those who live in Stearns County — how to fund a new county jail.
Here’s a look at the three referendum questions that are on St. Cloud-area ballots this year.
Ballot question: “Shall Stearns County be authorized to impose a sales tax & use tax of three-eighths of one percent to finance up to $325 million, plus associated bonding costs, for the construction of a justice center facility, consisting of law enforcement, judicial center and jail? The sales tax would be used solely to finance construction, upgrades and financing costs for the justice center and remain in effect for 30 years or until the project is paid for, whichever comes first. These services and facilities are mandated by the state of Minnesota to be provided by counties.”
Stearns County officials are planning to build a new $325 million justice center complex that includes a 270-bed jail, a judicial center with courtrooms, and a law enforcement center that houses the Sheriff’s Office. In the summer, Stearns County board members voted to move those facilities out of downtown and to a new location with more space. That site has yet to be determined.
The question before voters is how to fund that center.
County Administrator Mike Williams said a common misconception he’s heard at recent town halls is residents think voting “yes” gives permission to the county to build the facility, and if they vote “no,” the county won’t spend the money to build it.
“People [think they] are voting on the project — and they’re not. They’re voting on how we are going to fund it,” Williams said.
If voters approve the ballot question, the county will impose a sales tax to fund the project. If they vote it down, the county can instead pay for the project with property taxes.