FORKS — Snaps, an abused pit bull said to have been used as a weapon in a Seattle attack, will live out his life in a Forks sanctuary.
“I’ve seen worse abuse cases and worse behavior,” said Steve Markwell, who runs the Olympic Animal Sanctuary.
“There’s usually some trigger. You don’t know what that is until you find it.”
Snaps’ previous owner — a 16-year-old girl accused of attacking two women in SeaTac with the help of her dog — pleaded guilty on Sept. 3 in King County Juvenile Court to guilty to second-degree assault, third-degree assault and minor in possession of alcohol, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer said.
Prosecutors say the girl, who is unidentified because of her age, attacked a woman in SeaTac who had told her not to kick the dog. The dog attacked the woman, too.
When another woman stopped to inquire about the altercation, the teen and dog set upon her, according to court documents. Both women were taken to Harborview Medical Center for treatment following the attacks.
The girl is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 8.
Animal in custody
Snaps, the attacking pit bull, was taken into custody by King County Animal Care and Control, and held in evidence in Kent while the assault case worked its way through the juvenile court system in King County.
The 2-year old dog was surrendered to King County by the mother of the 16-year-old immediately after the attacks.
Since he had attacked several people, his chances of getting out alive were slim to none.
It would be just another awful pit bull story, had it not been for Markwell’s sanctuary.
Animal rescue
The Olympic Animal Sanctuary is the only animal rescue operation on the North Olympic Peninsula that specializes in taking dogs that have bitten or attacked animals or people, and are unable to live among them.
They are given a permanent home at the sanctuary. None are put up for adoption.
Markwell said that, at the King County facility, Snaps was placed in a kennel with a cement floor and no bedding.
“I understand there was very minimal human contact, and that staff had been told not to interact with him,” Markwell said.
Staff at the facility determined that due to his continued aggression toward people, he should not be adopted or placed in a foster home.
This was affirmed by two behavior assessments by independent experts, Markwell said.
Placement in a no-kill sanctuary to live out his days, or being put to sleep were his only options.
Nancy McKenney, acting manager at the King County facility, said Snaps was given toys and bedding, but they had to be removed.
“He was good at destroying them,” she said.
She said his kennel was 4-by-12, with a separate area where he was housed during kennel cleaning.
The facility contacted Markwell, who paid Snaps a visit.
The dog had been confined all summer, and as Markwell put it, “had started living up to his reputation.”
He was aggressive, agitated and fearful –exactly the kind of dog Markwell specializes in rehabilitating.
Where the staff and experts saw dangerous behavior, Markwell saw kennel stress.
McKenney has since refuted that claim.
“It is unsubstantiated and false that the aggressive behavior was the result of being held in the shelter,” she said.
“We care for thousands of dogs –it’s what we’re here for.”
She said the staff interacted with Snaps and tended to his needs, but that, “his behavior was such that he was an unpredictable dog,” and so he was not able to be taken out for walks.
“We’re proud of what our staff handles on a daily basis,” she said.
“Initially I wasn’t going to get involved,” Markwell said, after hearing about the incident in SeaTac. “But King County [Animal Care and Control] contacted me, and I thought maybe the publicity would help raise awareness about him and dogs like him.”
McKenney contacted the Forks Police Department to check if they would approve of allowing a “vicious” dog to be housed in the city, and said they had no objections.
Markwell brought Snaps to his new home at the sanctuary on Sept. 11.
Bad dogs turn good
Markwell and a small crew of volunteers run the sanctuary on a scant three quarters of an acre on Russell road in Forks. He currently has 47 canine tenants, and a wait list.
The dogs are a wide variety of breeds, from pomeranians, boxers and rottweilers to border collies, pit bulls and wild dogs from the Southwest.
About half of them are from the Northwest, but the rest come from across the United States.
The dogs are housed in 5-by-10 kennels and are let out daily to exercise and romp in one of three play yards.
There are hills to climb and ponds to swim in.
But it’s not all fun and games.
Markwell works with the dogs to socialize them and temper the behaviors that landed them there.
And he doesn’t do it by playing pack leader or alpha dog. Quite the opposite.
Instead, he uses body language, actions and attitude to show the dogs that he is there to protect and care for them.
“When they figure that out, problems diminish,” he said.
“I started out being a strong leader, but it was a set up for failure,” he said. “The dogs became more stressed, and I realized that by setting up as an alpha male, as soon as I showed signs of weakness, the dogs would exploit that.”
While he has never been bitten by one of his charges, before he adopted his less aggressive stance, they would fight with each other.
“It’s saved me a lot of money at the vet’s office,” he said.
Animal rehab background
Markwell had worked in wildlife rehabilitation in Colorado and California before moving to Forks in 2004 to set up the sanctuary.
“I fell into it by accident,” he said. “Originally I came here to do wildlife rescue.”
But then he picked up a “beach” dog — a stray who was killing ducks and generally causing trouble.
Soon people were calling him with reports of other abandoned, stray or troubled dogs.
“Now it’s all I do,” he said.
He found property was cheaper here than in California, and regulations less stringent.
The city of Forks does not require nor offer a kennel operator’s license.
He estimated it costs about $80,000 a year to run the sanctuary, with funding from donations form rescue groups and individuals, and sale of items on the sanctuary Web site.
The sanctuary is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
And Snaps?
“He’s fine,” Markwell said. “He’s really easy. He’s very well-mannered and practically bomb-proof when he’s focused on a person. He really tries to please.”
Snaps has not yet been allowed to interact with other dogs at the sanctuary, but he is getting human attention.
“It seems like he wants to play,” Markwell said.
Despite the finding of the experts at King County Animal Care and Control, Markwell said Snaps will need very little rehabilitation.
However, like all the dogs at Olympic Animal Sanctuary, because of his history, Snaps will never be adopted out.
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Features Editor Marcie Miller can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at marcie.miller@peninsuladailynews.com.
