SALEM -- A 24-year-old woman who runs a dog rescue group is accused of dozens of counts of animal neglect in what Oregon Humane Society officials described Monday as one of the biggest neglect cases in its history.



Marion County sheriff's officials arrested Alicia M. Inglish, of Salem, late Sunday on 120 accusations of second-degree animal neglect, a class B misdemeanor, and tampering with evidence.



Sheriff's officials said additional arrests are expected.



Inglish, who runs Willamette Animal Rescue, has been the subject of many previous complaints from people who adopted animals through her group. She is being held at the Marion County Jail on $300,000 bail. She is scheduled to appear in court this afternoon.



Inglish's animals were kept at a Brooks warehouse, which was raided by police late Sunday. Police described a harrowing scene: They encountered 149 dogs, some of them starving. Others' eyes were sealed shut with bodily fluids. Their cages weren't lined with bedding. As many as five dogs were kept in kennels designed for one. The stench was overwhelming. Waste ran down from one crate perched atop many others, to pool on the concrete floor.

Police said the animals lacked food. What little water was available was contaminated with garbage.

"This is so far and away from the perception of warmth and caring people expect in an animal shelter," said Sharon Harmon, executive director of the Oregon Humane Society. "This is just a tragic case of neglect."

Photographs taken by police show hunched, emaciated dogs, with open sores on their snouts and bald patches on their dull coats. Multiple faces peek out of each small cat crate, stacked, as described by police, like cordwood. The animals represented a range of breeds and ages.

Twenty-one deputies and volunteers worked overnight to care for the seized dogs.

Kris Otteman, veterinarian for the Oregon Humane Society, described the animals' condition as terrible. Officials said it was too soon to say whether the animals can be rehabilitated and adopted out.

"I found no food available to them and the water in their cages was filled with stench," Otteman said. "I saw one animal stuffed into a cage that was so small he was unable to lie down, sit or stand up. He had no food or water in the cage, and I'm not sure how long he'd been left in that condition."

Some of the dogs were in such an advanced state of starvation that technicians will have to use a "refeeding program" to re-introduce small amounts of easily digestible food.

"Those dogs were shut down. They don't show interest in food," Harmon said.

The dogs were split among three shelters, including the Oregon Humane Society in Portland and two facilities in Marion County. The Oregon Humane Society took in 110 dogs.

Sheriff's officials said they tried to work with Inglish to address problems with the animals' care, but "our efforts were met with a lack of cooperation." Oregon Humane Society representatives tried to inspect the facility but were turned away, police said.

Police said former employees said the facility housed up to 150 dogs in the 7,500-square-foot warehouse. The animals were kept in multiple dog kennels, some in 4' x 6' dog runs, and some in crates normally used for transporting animals.

Inglish was arrested Sunday morning as she pulled up to the warehouse with another four dogs.

On the group's Facebook page, since taken down, organizers posted the following plea on Nov. 10:

"We go through about 120 pounds of dog food each day at the shelter so gift cards to Costco, Petsmart and Petco are always a big help!"

Harmon said officials found just two bags of dog food in the warehouse, along with the dog's primary food: stale bread.

On Monday, the one-story building sat empty. Inside was a concrete floor with wood shavings scattered about. Outside, near the warehouse door, was a stack of 13 animal carrier crates.

Christian Kidd, 23, said he had volunteered at the facility for about two months, buying wood shavings and dog food for the operators. He said the facility operators retrieved dogs from a pound in Porterville, Calif., where they would have been euthanized.

"We would pick up dogs sentenced to death and bring them back to rehabilitate them and try to find them loving homes," said Kidd, who lives in the Salem area.

He said the dogs were given both dry and wet dog food.

"They weren't all starving," he said.

Kidd said of Inglish, "She didn't want the dogs to die. That's all she cared about."

Cathleen Schaff, who saw Inglish's mug shot Monday, said she recognized her as the woman from whom she adopted an 8-week-old puppy in 2009. Inglish ran the Northwest Animal Rescue Alliance in Salem at the time, Schaff said.



Schaff said she tried to reach Inglish after the dog was diagnosed with Parvo because about 10 more dogs were in the car with her when Schaff's was dropped off. Inglish stopped returning her messages, Schaff said.



"That's when radio silence occurred," she said. "We love our dog and we weren't threatening her or anything, but it seemed like information that a responsible shelter person would want."



Inglish's dogs remain at area shelter. In Portland, the cost to shelter and care for the 110 dogs is more than $3,000 daily, Harmon said, with higher costs accessed for the sickest animals.

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