Founder of Andover animal rescue organization is charged after 8 dogs found dead in Cottage Grove

Mara H. Gottfried, Pioneer Press
Updated ·6 min read
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The St. Paul founder of an animal rescue organization charged Monday with 22 counts after eights dogs were found dead last year and more than 20 were seized says she got in over her head with trying to help dogs.

Carley Mackenzie Ryan, 36, said she’s always loved animals and it hasn’t been uncommon for her to take on more than she can chew, but she said she reached out for help and never expected this outcome.

The case came to light in October, when Cottage Grove police found eight deceased dogs discarded in a rural area. It was later determined they had parvovirus. Police contacted the Anoka County sheriff’s office Oct. 18 to report they believed the dogs came from “For Furever,” an animal rescue in Andover.

Of 22 dogs seized from the animal rescue, eight later had to be euthanized and the remainder were adopted, according to the Animal Humane Society.

The Anoka County attorney’s office charged Ryan with four counts of overwork/mistreat animal — torture, which allege Ryan neglected four pets, resulting in death or great bodily harm; another four counts are gross misdemeanors that say neglect resulted in substantial bodily harm to four pets. The remaining charges are misdemeanors related to how Ryan allegedly kept the dogs.

“I never, ever intentionally hurt any of them,” Ryan said as she cried. “I cared for them as best as I could.”

More recently, it seemed like “everybody was surrendering their pets” because they lost their job or became homeless, for example, Ryan said. “It was very overwhelming and we were such a small rescue, we didn’t have a lot of the resources.”

Charges: Dogs found in dirty building

After the Cottage Grove alert on Oct. 18, a deputy found a vehicle registered to Ryan behind a closed business on Seventh Avenue Northwest north of Bunker Lake Boulevard in Andover. An investigator went to the building the next day and found no one there, “but the smell of feces was strong from the exterior of the building, and he was able to see six to eight dogs of various breeds and sizes running loose in the building as well as a significant number of other dogs in kennels,” the criminal complaint said.

With a search warrant, the sheriff’s office and Animal Humane Society went to the building on Oct. 20. Ryan was there when the warrant was carried out.

When deputies went in the building, they “were met by the overwhelming odor of feces and urine,” the complaint said. “There were several dogs loose and the floor was wet and covered in a layer of excrement. After the dogs had been removed from the building and significant clean air had been introduced into the environment,” ammonia levels were found to be 44.7 to 48.1 parts per million, the complaint said.

The smell of ammonia can be detected at 5 parts per millions, “and increased levels and prolonged exposure for animals can cause infection, scarring of lung tissue and potential lifelong issues from the exposure,” the complaint said.

Twenty-two dogs were found in the building and taken to the Animal Humane Society. They’d been housed in cages that were too small and didn’t have bedding; none of the enclosures contained food or water, the complaint said.

“All 22 of the dogs had some form of fecal or urinary scald to their feet and urine staining or feces matted into their coat,” the complaint said. “The scalding (also known as burning) occurred due to the dog’s lack of access to a clean and dry place to stand or lay.”

Ryan, who said she works full time, said she went to the building to take care of the dogs before she started work, in between her second shift and at the end of the day. She said the dogs were all fed, watered and received medical care. “The conditions were not as bad as what they described,” she said.

There were dogs that arrived at the rescue in poor health and “it was up to us to nurse them back to health,” Ryan said. Some dogs were essentially “hospice cases,” she said. She said she doesn’t know which of the dogs were euthanized by the Humane Society, and she said investigators didn’t ask her for records about their past veterinary care or treatment plans.

The criminal complaint said all the dogs weren’t healthy enough to be adopted without “some form of medical or behavioral treatment.”

Dogs found in Cottage Grove

Ryan acknowledged to law enforcement that the dogs found in Cottage Grove had come from her rescue. She said she acquired the puppies from a Sept. 30 auction and they contracted parvovirus about a week later. She said Monday the rescue organization had been told they were fully vaccinated.

She reported the first two puppies died on Oct. 2 and the final puppy around Oct. 7 or 8. They hadn’t received licensed veterinary care, the complaint said.

Ryan said Monday that the veterinarian they went to said “there’s no point in treating them, it’s going to cost way too much” and recommended euthanizing them. Ryan said she wanted to try to help them and, under the advice of a volunteer who is a veterinary technician, she provided “in home treatment” and stayed at the building because “they needed around the clock care.”

Of 16 dogs with parvo, eight survived and eight died, Ryan said.

While “highly contagious and deadly,” it’s “a treatable condition,” the complaint said.

The complaint said: “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.”

A man pleaded guilty to dumping the dogs; he said his wife brought them home to take them to her work to have them cremated, according to a citation.

For Furever Animal Rescue was registered with the state as a nonprofit organization in 2022, with Ryan listed as the registered agent. She said she’s no longer volunteering in the animal rescue world. The organization is not affiliated with another with a similar name, Fur-Ever Home Rescue.

Dr. Graham Brayshaw, the Animal Humane Society’s director of veterinary medicine, said it’s unusual to have charges brought in animal cases because most law enforcement agencies have to prioritize other kinds of cases.

If people are worried about animal cruelty or neglect, “we’d rather hear about it and find out it’s nothing than have people stay silent on it,” Brayshaw said. People can make a report on the Humane Society’s website or call 612-772-9999 to leave a message for one of their humane agents.

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