ALLENDALE, Michigan — A woman has been arrested and charged after nearly two dozen Pomsky dogs were recovered from an Allendale Township home.
An animal neglect complaint was initially filed with the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office on Dec. 4. Deputies then responded to a home in the 11000 block of Boyne Boulevard and saw multiple dogs inside. The homeowner was not able to be located at the time.
Inside the home were 21 Pomsky dogs. While the dogs were in fair health, according to deputies, their living conditions were "extremely poor."
Shayna Saing, a 27-year-old from Allendale, was later arrested and charged with one felony count of animal abuse and three misdemeanor charges related to operating a kennel without a kennel license and having unlicensed dogs.
She was arraigned in the 58th District Court in Hudsonville.
The dogs were taken to Harbor Humane Society.
"When they first opened the door to the trailer, there was a lot of feces and all these faces just staring at them from a very small space," said Jen Self-Aulgur, the executive director of the Harbor Humane Society.
A Pomsky is a "designer" breed that's a mix between a Pomeranian and a husky.
"It was really a breeding operation that had gotten out of control and kind of turned into a hoarding situation," Self-Aulgur said.
She said the dogs were all in poor condition when they arrived at the shelter due to their living conditions.
"They were extremely just filthy, covered with poop, urine stains on their paws," Self-Aulgur said. "Some have bites and things like that, probably from just fighting with each other, because that is just a lot of animals to have in such a small space."
Self-Aulgur also stressed the need to be vigilant and careful when looking to buy puppies, especially when they're being bought online.
"We see these people creating these designer breeds and and not being able to sell them, and so then they end up in situations like this, and then eventually end up in a shelter, which is already oversaturated," Self-Aulgur said. "So we really need to, as a society, look at our value we place on animals and where we're getting them from."
Deputies say all 21 of the dogs have now been adopted.
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