Police raids shed light on Minnesota’s weak laws, fragmented oversight of animal rescues

When a state kennel inspector visited Happy Tails Rescue in Fridley in late 2022, she gave the organization a glowing report, detailing a facility in “immaculate” condition.

Just over 18 months later, police following up on an animal mistreatment tip raided the facility and found something else entirely: 15 dead cats and dogs alongside dozens of live animals, many of them suffering.

“If it was a child, you wouldn’t send a child back into a filthy, neglectful home where it was like kept in a closet and not treated well,” said former employee Suzy Coyer. “Children and animals are both voiceless, and they’re under our bidding.”

But Minnesota’s system of oversight for pet rescue organizations means it’s tough to ensure animals are being properly cared for. A Star Tribune review of the state’s animal rescue oversight system found:

“The animal welfare laws in Minnesota are incredibly weak,” said Kerry D’Amato, who leads Minnesota’s oldest foster rescue, Pet Haven. “The people who are in place to maybe make a difference don’t have the resources — the people, the funding, or the law — behind them to support what they need to do.”

Multiple proposals to change state laws have come before the Legislature, with more expected in 2025. But there isn’t agreement among advocates about the best route to take.

Happy Tails, which started in 2005, runs a shelter and places foster animals into homes. The rescue routinely received shipments of dogs and cats from out-of-state pet groups, reporting to the nonprofit Animal Humane Society that it adopted out 350 pets in August 2020. It is one of 89 licensed kennels in Minnesota inspected annually by the Board of Animal Health.

A November 2022 inspection report obtained from the board shows a kennel inspector found Happy Tails’ facility in “immaculate” condition.

It’s unclear what visits have happened since. In June 2023, the board received a complaint that an adopted puppy was suffering after a spay surgery. But Stacey Eissinger, the board’s attorney, declined to provide records from recent inspections, citing a state law allowing records to be withheld if there is an ongoing investigation.

No criminal charges stemming from the May 2024 raid have been filed, and the board has not announced any civil penalties. The rescue is still offering dogs and cats for adoption on its website.

In response to a detailed list of questions, Happy Tails’ attorney, Virginia Cronin, said the organization had done nothing wrong. “It is deeply troubling that unfounded and untrue allegations have gravely jeopardized the lifesaving work of Happy Tails Rescue,” Cronin wrote.

Former employees interviewed by the Star Tribune identified concerns about animal welfare inside Happy Tails beginning in 2023. Among them: limited access to veterinary care, leading some animals to become seriously sick before their problems were addressed.

Jessica Anderson, a former manager, noticed issues almost immediately after she was hired in June 2023. She noted a ginger tabby kitten, Scottie, who had an obvious infection — but had to wait a week to see the vet. In the meantime, his eye, inflamed and bright red, burst. It was later removed.

In all, five cats lost at least one eye between 2023 and 2024 as they received spotty access to vet care, according to Patty Wargin, a former Happy Tails employee and volunteer.

Wargin, Anderson and Coyer all remember a gray tabby named Sophie that lost both of her eyes in the beginning of 2024.

“She was the sweetest girl, came in perfectly healthy,” Wargin said. That case was “the most upsetting for most of us, just because we all felt it was so avoidable.”

In Minnesota, licensed animal shelters must write a veterinary protocol, including their approach to vaccination schedules, euthanasia and emergency care. State rules say animals must receive care “promptly” but do not specify a timeline.

When a Board of Animal Health inspector visits a shelter, they examine the building and general cleanliness — lighting, airflow, temperature, and whether animals have clean food and water. They rely mostly on the veterinary protocol to determine how the animals are treated.

In at least one instance, an inspector felt that the laws on the books were not sufficient. Surveying a home in 2019 where the owner was feeding and vetting 45 cats and conditions were dirty, the inspector wrote: ”Kennel laws in Minnesota do not reflect the current shelter medicine and care standards.”

In an email, Board of Animal Health spokesman Michael Crusan wrote that kennel statutes “were last updated decades ago and could use updated language to give the board authority to address current best practices in animal health.”

The vet on contract with Happy Tails from 2021 to early 2024 visited the rescue once or twice a week. Michael Chafin recalled performing operations to remove some cats’ eyes, but said he did not know that animals received inconsistent follow-up care between his visits. He advised that animals go to emergency clinics if he wasn’t available.

“If I give treatment on a Tuesday, and give instructions to monitor and take a look and make sure everything’s going good — if I’m not back again until next Tuesday, a lot of things can happen,” Chafin said.

Anderson, the former Happy Tails employee, discussed concerns about vet care with Laura Westphall, the rescue’s director, in an August 2023 email, according to a copy provided to the Star Tribune. Anderson worried that the rescue was waiting too long to give medications, writing, “I feel like we wait until the cat is so sick it’s scary.”

Westphall responded to Anderson that the animals were being treated, even if not everyone knew about it.

But animals kept getting seriously ill. The day after Christmas 2023, Anderson noted 58 cats with injuries or illnesses.

In addition to the Board of Animal Health, two nonprofit organizations have animal welfare investigators. Some cities also employ their own civilian animal control officers to respond to complaints.

State lawmakers established Minnesota Federated Humane Societies in 1987 to prevent animal abuse and assist peace officers in enforcing the state’s animal cruelty laws. The other group, Animal Humane Society (AHS), also investigates complaints and works with law enforcement to remove animals from dangerous situations. Neither nonprofit receives state funding.

AHS visited Happy Tails in August 2023 after receiving complaints about a broken air conditioner. Graham Brayshaw, chief medical officer, said the group received other complaints as early as 2016 about sick adopted dogs.

AHS urged Happy Tails to fix the air conditioning and decided it would no longer send animals there, but took no other action; the organization’s investigator said she saw no signs that welfare laws were being broken.

Shelters must follow some rules set by the Board of Animal Health that individuals do not. They must feed dogs and cats daily and give them fresh water twice a day, rather than as “necessary.” But many of the board’s rules are vague or set a low standard, such as requiring “clean and sanitary” conditions.

Though animal welfare nonprofits inspect foster-based rescues when they receive complaints, their investigators rely on law enforcement to intervene when rescues are breaking the law. When there’s evidence animals may be suffering but no law is broken, there’s little AHS can do.

“Sometimes it’s not pretty, but if they’re meeting that standard, there’s really not a whole lot of enforcement that can be done with those statutes,” said Ashley Pudas, an AHS humane agent.

There is no routine state oversight for at least 100 rescues in Minnesota that don’t operate kennels, instead placing dogs and cats in private homes with foster families.

Minnesota’s law governing shelters, last updated in 1987 before fostering became common, exempts private homes.

“There’s no way that [lawmakers] could have foreseen what has evolved with our foster-based rescue organizations,” said Paul Anderson, chair of the Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association’s Small Animal Welfare Committee.

One of those foster-based groups recently caught the attention of law enforcement.

In October, Anoka County Sheriff’s deputies and AHS staff seized 22 dogs from an Andover building leased by the owner of a foster-based rescue, For Furever, that didn’t have a kennel license.

Animals’ coats were stained and paws burned from lying and standing in urine and feces, according to the criminal complaint.

The owner, Carley Ryan, faces four felony charges and 18 misdemeanor counts for mistreatment of animals. Ryan has not yet entered a plea. A hearing is scheduled for Aug. 7.

In response to questions, her attorney, Rory Durkin, said: “I absolutely disagree with the characterization of the conduct and the level of charging.”

Ryan told the Star Tribune she started For Furever in 2019 intending to only use fosters. Ultimately she took in more dogs than the volunteer-powered organization had people or funds to care for. Ryan said she had a soft spot for dogs with behavioral or medical issues: the ones “that nobody really wanted.” Her impulse was to keep these dogs — in her home, if she had to.

An Animal Humane Society investigator visited Ryan’s home in November 2022 in response to a complaint and warned her she could be fined if she continued to keep more dogs than the three permitted under local law. According to AHS, there were 18 dogs. Ryan says it was eight.

Later, Ryan rented commercial spaces to house the dogs, including one in Bloomington. The city’s animal control agency received a complaint on Aug. 1, 2023, that she was keeping 25 to 30 dogs in dirty conditions. But because the complaint didn’t provide an exact address, an officer didn’t visit until later that month. At that time, he noted, “No dogs found on site, moved to Andover.”

Veterinarians and animal welfare advocates agree more oversight is needed, but have differing strategies.

Proposals before the Legislature to change the civil system that oversees rescues have repeatedly failed to gain traction, along with another effort to reform the criminal system of animal protection.

Animal welfare group Animal Folks Minnesota supports a bill establishing a new state agency for dogs and cats — a Companion Animal Board. Lawmakers first considered the bill in 2019, and Animal Folks Minnesota executive director Ann Olson expects it to be reintroduced next session. The measure would remove kennel oversight from the Board of Animal Health, which also oversees farm animals, and entrust it to the new agency.

Advocates of the measure say veterinarians and others specializing in dog and cat care should be in charge of inspecting kennels and that foster-based rescues should also be included.

“We felt the current structure right now is really about livestock and wildlife but nothing for pets,” said Olson.

Paul Anderson’s veterinary group is working on an alternative proposal to expand the responsibilities of the Board of Animal Health to include oversight of foster-based rescues. This would cover temperature, lighting, sanitation, supervision, veterinary care and enrichment.

Though the board would not inspect individual foster homes under this proposal, rescue managers would inspect homes of all foster caregivers annually to ensure they follow facility and care requirements, as well as local laws. They would have to confirm these inspections to the board and provide contact information of all foster caregivers.

A state task force convened by the board recently concluded the state needs to regulate foster-based rescues.

The board insists it is best equipped to oversee pet health and welfare and supports an expansion of its authority to include foster-based rescues.

“We don’t see a need for another board to do the same thing that we are already doing, and we have a great staff that are doing and fulfilling statutes that we are charged at enforcing,” said Eric Jopp, the board’s assistant director.

Without clearer guideposts, said D’Amato of Pet Haven, more rescues will struggle to care for the animals they take in.

“They want to save lives. They don’t realize how much need there is,” D’Amato said. “If you don’t have strong systems and processes and support in place, you are going to quickly get overwhelmed.”