ASPCA continues seizing animals on Crandon property

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Forest County Sheriff's Department are still working to capture around 10 wolf-dog hybrids that are loose on a property in the Crandon area.

Already, 37 dogs and 14 horses have been seized after a tip from a concerned community member to the ASPCA.

A Crandon woman is expected to face criminal charges, and the dozens of animals already recovered from her property are currently receiving treatment in an emergency shelter.

"It has required a significant amount of medical treatment to care for some of these dogs and the horses," said Tim Rickey, the Vice President of the Field Investigation and Response Department for the ASPCA.

Rickey said that dead animals were found on the property, and there were signs of neglect and malnutrition among the dogs and horses that were seized.

"Focus really has been on the condition of the animals, the alleged animal abuse and really providing them the care that they need," Rickey said.

The sheriff's department and ASPCA were working on the case for about a month before removing the animals from the property.

In a statement, Forest County Sheriff John Dennee said "We’ve been concerned about these neglected animals for quite some time. We wanted to make sure this case was handled properly and we cannot thank the ASPCA enough for their expertise and assistance in this investigation.”

The animals will continue to be held in an emergency shelter and will undergo behavior analysis to figure out their futures.

"The ASPCA really believes strongly in looking at animals as individuals, you know we certainly know that some people have owned these animals and not had problems with them," Rickey said.

Rickey has been working on large-scale animal neglect cases for 15 years, and says this is the largest number of suspected wolf-dog hybrids he has seen in a single case.