On September 3rd, Robin Conway of Maryland was mauled to death by a dog she’d adopted from a local rescue organization less than two weeks before. The intact male dog, named “Snowball,” was surrendered by his owners on at least two occasions, and had ended up at the Logan County Pound. A local rescue organization called The Paws Squad that routinely pulls death row dogs from the Logan Pound immediately began working to secure his release, despite his questionable ownership history and behavioral assessments. The Paws Squad’s founder, Selena Marcum, originally posted about the animal on August 9th and stated that he was ‘rescue only, not available for adoption.’

This is a typical pattern of behavior for some rescues. Animals that they deem too risky to be placed with a run-of-the-mill dog owner is tagged as only available for rescue, meaning that they will only release the dog to another organization. From there, they care not where it ends up.

Money for his veterinary costs were raised through Facebook and a temporary rescue foster was found. However, the individual turned down the animal after meeting him and his information was again shared by The Paws Squad.

Here we learn that the dog, an unaltered male, was previously named Bullet and had been surrendered by his owner. Two days later, another post is put out for an ‘urgent call for action’ regarding the dog.

In this post, the dog is no longer flagged as ‘rescue only.’ Now, it appears that he is available for any warm body to ‘foster,’ or take into their home on a temporary basis.

Finally, another rescue out of state called Ray of Hope Dog Rescue in Maryland stepped up and agreed to take the animal, even though it had been surrendered twice and passed over by one experienced foster for reasons not disclosed in public posts. Regardless of this, the animal was transported to Maryland by a North Carolina based ‘freedom ride’ organization called Wheels 4 Paws. Once he arrived, the dog was placed with Robin Conway, a 64 year old grandmother and animal lover.

Selena Marcum posted a picture of the two in celebration, oblivious to the disaster she’d created.

Two weeks later, Robin went to take Snowball for a walk as she normally did. When she did not return on a timely manner, her husband went looking for her. What he found in his backyard was his wife, brutalized and dead. Standing over her covered in blood was Snowball. He was able to wrangle the dog and tie him to a post while he dialed 911, but it was too late. One would think that such a tragedy would be a learning experience for the overzealous animal rescues involved, if nothing else. Ray of Hope maintains that they were unaware of the animal’s history, including his prior name. Why did the Logan County Pound allow a dog with aggressive tendencies and a questionable history to be pulled? Why was he once listed as ‘rescue only’ but later offered up for standard fostering? How did two rescues and one transport organization turn a blind eye to all of the warning signs? It is now just weeks following Robin’s death, The Paws Squad is at it again. They’re rehoming yet another dangerous dog across state lines, only this time they’re far, far more bold about it. The dog, named ‘Marley’ by The Paws Squad volunteers, was surrendered following a dog fight between Marley and another animal. Marley then savagely bit the owner, who attempted to break up the fight. The owner surrendered the animal to the Logan County Pound presumably for euthanasia, but the facility has offered the dog to the public…again as ‘rescue only.’ Again, The Paws Squad posted about Marley on social media.

The dog has a history of animal and human aggression and is described as ‘a little growly’ and very large. He is also listed as ‘rescue only, not for adoption,’ but we know how that turned out once before already. Furthermore, the Logan County Pound workers did not even adequately complete behavioral tests on the dog, because the handlers were unsure if they could prevent him from attacking if he decided to due to his size and sheer strength.

This dog, who has bitten somebody before and attacked other animals, has now been pulled and placed with another rescue. I am unable to determine where he is now. The biggest question is why the Logan County Pound did not immediately euthanize a dog with a bite history, did not take steps to perform adequate behavioral assessments, and instead allowed the animal to be transported out where it can interact with the general public? None of the people that are culpable for Robin Conway’s death have learned a single thing from their actions. They will continue their negligent practices that puts the public and unsuspecting pet adopters at risk unless some light is shed on the issue through the media. Unfortunately, this pattern of behavior isn’t limited to Logan County. Shelters and private rescue organizations often whitewash questionable animals and ship them out of state in order to hide their past and increase their chance of being adopted. These well known practices are not new or surprising. They’re a well known secret for those who have been involved in animal rescue in the past, including several of us here at Crash’s Cause. As always, we will continue to shed light on dangerous rescues