Happy ending for Wren: Dog rescued in animal cruelty case with Portage ties gets new home

Diane Smith, Record-Courier
Updated ·2 min read
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An animal cruelty case has claimed the lives of 160 dogs in Mantua and Parma, but there's a happy ending for at least one of the dogs.

Wren, left, with her adopted canine brother, Winston, is one of the surviving dogs adopted after an animal neglect situation in Parma. The homeowner, Barbara Wible, also owned a home in Mantua where 146 dead dogs were found.
Wren, left, with her adopted canine brother, Winston, is one of the surviving dogs adopted after an animal neglect situation in Parma. The homeowner, Barbara Wible, also owned a home in Mantua where 146 dead dogs were found.

An Ohio resident said she adopted Wren from Parma Animal Shelter, and someone there told her the dog was rescued from a hoarding situation.

"We had her a few days before the news broke about the Mantua property," the resident said.

Wren's new owner posted a video of Wren interacting with her other dog, Winston, at their home. The video shows Winston giving Wren "moral support," teaching her how to play with toys, earn treats, go on walks and beg for food.

Wren was apparently one of 22 surviving dogs taken from the home of Barbara Wible, 68, who is facing a fifth-degree felony animal cruelty case stemming from an investigation in Parma. She remains hospitalized from a medical incident in early June, Parma police have said.

Mantua warrant

The Portage Animal Protective League executed a search warrant June 16 after getting a tip that an animal cruelty charge was pending in another jurisdiction against the homeowner, according to a news release. Wible is a founding operator of Canine Lifeline Inc., a nonprofit animal rescue, according to the Portage Animal Protective League.

Many of the 146 dogs were found confined to their crates. Necropsies, which are animal autopsies, will be performed to determine what caused the dogs' deaths, the agency said. No living dogs were removed from the Mantua home.

Chalan Lowry, executive director of the APL, has said neither she nor Holly Ebner, the APL's humane agent, would comment because the investigation is pending.

Parma investigation

Parma Police detective Daniel Ciryak said an Amazon driver called for a welfare check at Wible's Parma home June 2 and reported packages were piling up at the residence and believed they may have been there for over a week.

"Once officers began checking the residence, they located several dogs both alive and some were deceased," Ciryak stated in an email.

Wible was found on the floor, but moving, he said. She was taken to University Hospitals in Parma.

'This could have been avoided': Complaint filed year before 146 dead dogs found in Portage

The Parma animal control officer came to the house and found a total of 36 dogs, Ciryak said. Of those, 12 were dead, though two ended up being euthanized at an emergency veterinary clinic.

Some of the surviving dogs have since been adopted or placed in foster care, according to the Parma Animal Shelter.

Ciryak said the case has been turned over to a Cuyahoga County grand jury, "where more charges are expected."

Reporter Diane Smith can be reached at 330-298-1139 or dsmith@recordpub.com.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Dog from animal cruelty case settles into her new happy home