Earlier this month I wrote that two puppies adopted out by K9 Northwest dog rescue earlier this year both died soon after they were adopted – one had parvovirus and the other had distemper.
Earlier this month Ava died of parvovirus about a week after she was adopted from K9 Northwest.
In both cases there was ample proof that both puppies contracted these diseases before they were adopted while still in the care of K9 Northwest.
I understand that any dog rescue can make mistakes, but I’ve never heard of a reputable dog rescue that had any of its dogs die of parvovirus or distemper after being adopted. That’s because these rescues take extreme care to ensure that their dogs are properly vaccinated AND they don’t adopt out their dogs until the incubation period for these diseases has passed.
In my opinion, K9 Northwest definitely does NOT belong in the category of reputable rescues, and it’s not just because they adopted out sick puppies. Based on information sent to me from her former neighbors, K9 Northwest founder Melissa Lingk also kept the dogs in horrific conditions before they were adopted.
Corrine and Travis Hofland lived next to her when she lived in McLeary, WA in Grays Harbor County. Recently Corrine sent me disturbing evidence of how the dogs were treated at K9 Northwest, which Ms. Lingk ran from her home.
She also sent a picture showing how Ms. Lingk put up tarps so “no one (could) see the abuse and neglect” inflicted on the dogs.
Here is the the information that Corrine sent to me. I added the italics and bolding, and I redacted some of the witnesses for their privacy. WARNING – It contains graphic, gruesome language.
To whom it may concern,
Less than a week after he was adopted, Captain was diagnosed with giardia, coccidia, and an ear infection. His adopters had to put him down 3 weeks after they got him due to complications from distemper. Photo credit withheld.
Melissa Lingk runs a “No Kill Rescue” under the name of K9 Northwest next door to me for a several years now. Animal control has been called several times by us and the other adjoining neighbors but, has failed to do anything, even after a video of a larger dog eating a smaller dog was taken and shown to them they still did nothing to stop the abuse that has been going on under the guise of a rescue. Melissa Lingk has been touted as being a savior to dogs but, no one knows what actual care these dogs have received.
K9 Northwest should not be allowed to operate as a rescue when they clearly do not save these poor animals. Often we’ve stepped outside and have heard massive dog fights brought on by too many dogs being housed together and occasionally have smelled death in the air.
I could go on and on about the various atrocities heard and smelled at K9 Northwest but, I feel that the evidence collected by us and our other neighbors will speak for itself.
3/2/11
Jane Zepp and her son Aaron witnessed a larger dog killing a smaller dog in the K9 Northwest kennels. Aaron Zepp later grabbed a video camera to collect evidence as Melissa refused to open the door as the atrocities occurred. In this video (sorry it had to be uploaded to YouTube as it was too large to email) you will see that a larger dog is indeed eating the smaller dog.)
The above video was shown to Grays Harbor County Animal Control Officer Nichole Pollard. After the Nichole viewed the video she had a conversation with Melissa Lingk. Melissa placed the blame of the death on the Zepps and assured the Officer that everything was under control.
A week after witnessing the fate of the poor little dog Aaron Zepp saw the same larger dog kill yet another small dog. At this point Aaron went and spoke with Melissa stating there was a problem. This is proof that Melissa knew that this dog shouldn’t be around other dogs yet did nothing to remedy the actual problem except to surround the kennels with plastic tarp so no one can see the abuse and neglect. Officer Nichole Pollard has yet to do anything to stop the atrocities even after multiple complaints have been made by several people.
This is what the kennel area looks like now. They unload their new transports (dogs) in the middle of the night so no one can see exactly how many dogs are on the property. My husband and I have actually been in the house once and its wall to wall kennels throughout the front rooms.
Photo from Corrine Hofland.
Photo from Corrine Hofland.
They also own a seriously sick horse and pony, neither of which have shelter or adequate food. This picture is of their pasture; on the right there are piles of glass that they walk through trying to find food.
Photo from Corrine Hofland.
8/1/13
K9 Northwest has moved from McCleary to a more remote location. Below is a picture of the dog manure and straw left behind where the tarped kennel was, this picture really doesn’t give justice to the size of hill for I did not want to trespass.
Photo from Corrine Hofland.
Something has to be done to stop them and I will no longer be silent in hopes of not making an enemy. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Thank you for your time,
Travis and Corrine Hofland
K9 Northwest
Owner/CEO: Melissa Lingk
Website: http://www.k9northwest.com/
This note left me speechless, appalled, and disgusted.
No one who truly cared about saving dogs would allow them to live in these conditions and kill each other.
Ms. Lingk told me that she is disbanding K9 Northwest after they adopt out their remaining dogs. I hope that’s true. But I will continue to post information about this group so people will know how it treated dogs in its care.
I also hope it will drive home the fact that before anyone adopts a dog from a rescue he/she should make sure it’s a reputable group. A quick search online search should give you the information you need. If you see multiple, similar complaints about a rescue, or if a rescue won’t allow you to see their dogs look, do not adopt a dog from it.
So disappointed. Now we know why she never let people come to her house to meet dogs. Cannot use having a handicapped child as an excuse for this one.
Disgusting, sickening and horrific. She should be arrested for animal abuse and cruelty. Also fraud since she isn’t even a real rescue.
Rumor has it she also pretends to be a dog trainer too! SCAMMER!
I’ve met Ms. Lingk o. Several occasions and adopted two dogs from her. She is a very caring person. The reason animal control does nothing is because the issues are blown far out of proportion by people like you. If there was a danger, the state would have shut her down. This woman drives for hours to rescue dogs that would have otherwise been killed and all you people can do is judge like you’re better. You most likely have done nothing in you lives that has mattered. Keep your disrespectful attitudes to yourselves. Dogs in shelters have disease often. It’s not a brand new concept. It isn’t always clear what a dog has been exposed to. STop sitting on your high horses and do something worth a damn with your lives, then maybe you can have an opinion. Also it seems you are all afraid to use your real names. Most likely you are morbidly obese housewives with low self-esteem, just attempting to bring others down to your level. Disgusting.
I’m sure that Ms. Mingk has done some good things for dogs but this evidence against her is overwhelming and it was recorded by an eyewitness. Responsible rescues don’t thrown a bunch of unsupervised dogs in their backyard and allow them to kill each other.
FYI, if you don’t like what someone says, use actual facts instead of attacking them.
OMG. my heart is breaking! Three years ago we adopted a dog from Melissa. We didn’t realize how sick she was on the day we adopted Libby. Our fist visit to the vet was only the beginning. My husband always had a bad feeling about the adoption process, we had to meet in a park in McCleary, no checks only cash or money order. But I was already so in love with Libby that he agreed to adopt her. We have spent a great deal of money to save our girl. Now to know of the horrible conditions she was in before got her. Reading the posts and seeing the conditions, and to think I was so close to adopting from her again, thinking Libby was in her condition from being rescued from California! I’m so sorry to those of you who have had to put your dogs down, a picture is worth a thousand words. I’m glad that Melissa is closing down, maybe her original intentions were good, but from what I’ve seen now she should be arrested.
I’m so sorry. We’re you able to save her?
She has not shut down she still does ot from her home in Tacoma and lies about it…..
I tried your email but it bounced back. Do you have any info you can send me? My email is rpregulman@seattledogspot.com.
I am so upset. We adopted a dog from them almost two years ago. He was so, so sick. I spent thousands getting him well and there were many times I didn’t think he would make it. I couldn’t find any complaints at that time and I had such a horrible response when I went after them that I moved on. They had the audacity to accuse me of causing the puppy’s illness when he was extremely ill the moment I got him home. He spent his first days at the vet’s office and was a regular there for months. He had so many different parasites, and had them for so long, that it was almost impossible to get rid of them all. I’m so disgusted. I hope there’s something that can be done.
Our pup had massive amounts of tape worms, Coccidia, Giardia, and Cryptosporidium. The vet said it was clear he was riddled with the parasites for most of his 9 weeks of life to have them as far advanced as he did. He was skin and bones beneath his fluffy fur. It took months of constant treatment and tests to finally get him healthy. He will always be skinny and have tummy issues. I am so glad I got him and love him so much. I want this woman to pay for what she has put these animals and their people through!
I really am sad that we’ve become so obsessed with punishing people. “I want this woman to pay for what she has put these animals and their people through”. Do you think your dog would want her to pay? I’m sure that K9 started with the best of intentions, and discovered that running a no kill rescue is a lot harder than it looks. I’m sure if someone had given her a million dollar grant instead of a bunch of homeless dogs about to be killed and no money, she’d have had a better facility and been able to take better care of the four-footed friends in her care. I’m glad she’s gotten out of the business, since it seemed like she was totally overwhelmed by it, but I don’t think we should punish her for trying to do a good thing and failing – the failure itself is I’m sure punishment enough.
Our punishment attitude (which is very different I suspect from how dogs see the world) is one of the worst attributes of our species, and just makes this a worse world to live in for everyone.
We have a furry sweetheart we got from K9 who has had some minor parasite issues, but otherwise been healthy.
First I suggest you watch the video where a dog kills and eats a puppy because the dogs weren’t separated. And it happened more than once. If you see that and still think the person responsible shouldn’t be punished, then nothing I say will change your mind. On top of that people were sold puppies with parvo. Not only did they have to spend thousands of dollars on medical bills, but they had to go through the trauma of losing a dog. And they lost the hundreds of dollars they paid for them.
If she felt overwhelmed she could have stopped anytime and given her dogs away to other rescues. She could have put up additional fencing to keep the dogs separated. She could have asked for help.
I’m sorry if you believe “our punishment attitude” is one of the worst attributes of our society. I think cruelty to animals is much worse.
We adopted a dog from Mellisa about 2 years ago. She insisted on meeting us at a park due to a handicap son. Our first encounter with our adopted dog (Ringo Star McGuire) was that he had been very mistreated suffering ear mites and flees that had turned his belly and hind legs raw. When we questioned Mellisa about his condition she replied he had been brought up from California and would have been put to death had it not been for her. I had a gut feeling that Ringo had recently been neglected by her as well because what kind of person could wrap electrical tape around a dogs neck and think that it could ever be viewed as anything other than lack of caring. I am so happy that enough people could look past the good she so desperately claimed she was doing and got involved. It reminds me of Lance Armstrong and when i first heard he had been cheating to win. He had done so much for Cancer and had so many who looked up to him just to find he was a fraud. We have pictures documenting his condition and would be more than willing to help in any way to help stop animal abuse.
Thank you for sharing your story. Could you send the pictures to info@seattledogspot.com?