GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A woman has been charged with animal cruelty after more than 25 dogs were found in her minivan in Grand Rapids. Heather Nicole Alexander is facing criminal charges in Kent County's 63rd District Court.
Now, the dogs are at the Kent County Animal Shelter and they're all expected to be okay.
"They're mostly chihuahuas, and there were a couple shelties in there as well," Kent County Animal Shelter Division Director Angela Hollinshead says.
A Kent County Sheriff's Deputy heard a dog barking from inside the minivan in a parking lot on March 25, just north of Alpine Avenue Northwest and 4 Mile Road, Sgt. Eric Brunner told 13 ON YOUR SIDE.
"They ended up running across a person who had 27 dogs," Hollinshead says. "The outcome of a civil hearing on Friday last week awarded custody of the 27 dogs to the Kent County Animal Shelter."
The dogs range in age, from puppies to adults.
"We're going through the rest of their medical and behavioral exams. And for the most part, I don't believe that we have anybody that's not going to make it up for adoption because of a medical issue at this point," Hollinshead says.
Some of the dogs are already up for adoption, and now that the weather is getting warmer, the shelter is entering its busy season.
"There's more exposure of people out in the community. So they're seeing more, but there's that opportunity for, you know, it's warmer outside. And people are putting animals outdoors. So that cruelty neglect aspect kind of gets elevated in the summer, just because the pure exposure," she says.
This group of dogs is the largest rescue brought into the shelter in at least a year.
"The most important part is that we get these guys up to date on their medical their vaccines, get them spayed and neutered, and then behaviorally evaluated," Hollinshead says. "And then we can get them out the door and get them into these new wonderful homes."
The rest of the dogs who aren't up for adoption yet are expected to be spayed or neutered and up to adopt in about two weeks.
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