Charges: Andover animal rescue dumped 8 dead puppies along road after ‘painful and prolonged demise’

The founder of a Twin Cities animal rescue organization has been charged with nearly two dozen counts of animal mistreatment after eight dead puppies were found dumped along a road in Cottage Grove last fall, just a few days before the discovery of many other dogs in squalid conditions at her facility in Anoka County.

Carley M. Ryan, 36, of St. Paul, was charged Monday in Anoka County District Court with 22 animal mistreatment counts in all, four of them felonies. That’s after an off-duty police officer came upon the puppies on Oct. 15 in the tree line near Grey Cloud Island Drive.

The discarded dogs were a smaller breed and included a Schnauzer and other similar-sized white dogs, which could also be a terrier breed, police said.

Ryan, the operator of For Furever in Andover, was charged by summons and is due in court on March 22. A message was left with Ryan seeking a response to the allegations. Court records do not list an attorney.

Questioned by law enforcement, Ryan said she acquired the puppies found in Cottage Grove from an auction on Sept. 30, and they all contracted a severe gastrointestinal virus about a week later, the charges read. She said they all died over the next week or so without having received any veterinary care, the charges continued.

“The failure to render any medical aid or medication for pain management means that the eight deceased puppies went through a painful and prolonged demise prior to their natural death at the Andover facility,” the criminal complaint disclosed. “[Ryan] indicated that all [eight] dogs died naturally, and none were humanely euthanized.”

Each count against Ryan stemming from the discovery in her Andover facility relates to a specific dog. Each dog’s name started with the letter G, among them Glimmer, Georgia and Gooseberry.

The breeds included great Dane, Australian cattle dog, Irish setter mix, English mastiff, shepherd mix, American pit bull terrier, terrier mix, standard poodle mix, miniature poodle and bulldog.

According to the charges, Cottage Grove police alerted the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office on Oct. 18 about their suspicion that the abandoned dogs were related to animal cruelty occurring at For Furever.

A sheriff’s investigator went to the facility the next day and noticed a strong scent of feces from outside. He looked in and saw several dogs running loose and many other dogs in kennels.

On Oct. 20, deputies, an Animal Humane Society agent and a veterinarian went in and “were met by an overwhelming odor of feces and urine,” the charges read.

The caged dogs were in undersized enclosures that lacked bedding, food or water. All 22 dogs had some form of fecal or urinary injuries to their paws, along with urine stains and feces matted in their coat.