PORT TOWNSEND – Once the public knew that 76 animals seized in April were finally up for adoption, the Jefferson County Animal Services shelter was a zoo.
“Yesterday, it was just nuts after the article came out in the paper,” Jefferson County Animal Services Deputy Alex Mintz said Thursday.
“People were just coming to the shelter all day. It was pandemonium.”
News stories in the Peninsula Daily News and The Leader on Wednesday said that the animals were available for adoption after Jefferson County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Ted DeBray struck a deal with the animals’ owner.
In the deal struck on Monday, Michael Miller of Port Hadlock was charged with animal cruelty, but the charge will be dropped in two years if he and his wife Mary adhere to certain conditions.
Those are that they forfeit the animals to Animal Services and agree not to own any animals for at least the next two years.
A waiting list had been generated dating back to when the animals were first brought to the shelter, but by the end of Wednesday, that list numbered eight pages, Mintz said.
Many on the list were interested in adopting the small dogs, which includes a pug, some Pekinese and Chihuahuas.
The animals that were seized are 38 chickens, four geese, four rabbits, seven cats, two horses, 20 dogs and a sheep.
The chickens, some geese, a horse, 13 dogs and six cats remain available for adoption.
Many who signed the list back in April seemed to have either lost interest in adopting the pets or got a dog or cat elsewhere since, he said.
The $40,000 bill that had been racked up at the animal shelter for housing and care of the animals will not be paid by the Millers, said their public defender, Scott Charlton.
One way for Animal Services to get some money back is through adoption fees, although that amount is a mere fraction of the overall costs.
Adopting a dog costs $94 and a cat $81.
Adopting large livestock, such as horses, cost $50 each.
Adopting small livestock, such as chickens, is $5 each.
