KOMO News reporter Jeff Burnside reported yesterday that a Clallam County judge found Olympic Animal “Sanctuary” founder Steve Markwell guilty of 48 violations of charitable solicitation laws.
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who initiated the lawsuit against Markwell last year, told Burnside that Markwell was guilty for “failing to document how he spent $360,000 in donations.” He also said Markwell didn’t register the “Sanctuary” with the state as required by law until the violations had already occurred.
“If you are making a donation, large or small – this covers all kinds of donations small or large – to make sure that dogs are going to a sanctuary, you want to make sure those dollars are used for the purpose of dogs handled and treated humanely. And that did not happen here,” AG Ferguson told Burnside. “And that makes it especially egregious, in this case. And that’s why we prosecuted him.”
Living in a crate 24/7 and being starved at the OIympic Animal “Sanctuary” made Max’s food aggression much worse. Image from Forks Police Department.
AG Ferguson also told Burnside that said “Markwell should be held personally liable to pay fines, penalties and costs totaling about $120,000,” but a judge will decide the amount Markwell will pay next month.
Finally, a smattering of justice.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m ecstatic that AG Ferguson filed the lawsuit against Markwell to hold him accountable for swindling good-hearted donors who gave him their money with the expectation that he would actually use it to help the dogs at the “Sanctuary.” He’s the only elected official in the state that made a meaningful effort to help the dogs.
But it’s a smattering of justice because Markwell still hasn’t been held accountable for his (alleged) cruel, inhumane, egregious treatment of up to 160 dogs he held hostage in order to scam money from donors.
This is Bubba. After he was rescued from the “Sanctuary” a veterinarian at VCA Black Mountain Hospital estimated he hadn’t eaten in 2 months. His skin split due to lack of protein. The vet said it was the worst case of abuse he’d seen in 31 years. Image from KNTV.
For years, he kept these dogs in crates and kennels virtually 24/7. He fed them starvation rations of maggot infested meat. They did not have access to fresh water. They lived on top of straw saturated with their own urine and feces. They got little exercise, playtime, or any sort of mental stimulation. They got no medical care for most of their injuries and ailments – one dog that had its tail ripped off in a fight was never taken to a veterinarian.
Forks officials knew perfectly well what was going on inside that pink warehouse. Aside from the dozens of complaints about the “Sanctuary” they received, anyone with a nose and a pair of ears could smell the horrible odor emanating from the building and hear the nonstop howling and barking of the dogs.
And if officials bothered to stand outside warehouse for a day they would see that none of the more than a hundred dogs inside were taken outside for exercise.
It’s just basic common sense – one person and a couple of volunteers couldn’t have properly given 124 dogs the care and attention they needed every day. It would have taken over 30 hours just to take all the dogs out for 15 minutes of exercise.
This is how dogs lived inside the “Sanctuary.” Photo from OAS-Life inside the Sanctuary.
Forks officials had a litany of excuses about why they couldn’t prosecute Markwell: We don’t have enough money for a trial. He’s threatening to sue us if we prosecute him. The pictures of the dogs suffering inside the warehouse couldn’t be used in court. Forks law doesn’t give us the ability to go inside to check on the dogs without his permission.
Blah, blah, blah.
Forks Mayor Bryon Monohon even made the ignorant statement that “many of the critics of the OAS don’t understand the animals kept at the facility. There are people who think he has house pets, but they aren’t. These are dogs that anywhere else would have been put down. These are mean, wild animals.”
Here are some videos of those “mean, wild animals” after they were rescued and adopted.
I think these videos clearly show the Mayor is the one who didn’t understand the animals inside the “Sanctuary,” not its critics.
One good thing that emerged from the Olympic Animal “Sanctuary” fiasco is that Washington needs tougher animal cruelty regulations that give state officials the power to take animal out of abusive situations and prosecute cases of animal cruelty if city or county officials refuse to address them. Hopefully the Legislature will address this issue in the near future.
In the meantime, we can take solace that Markwell has been held accountable for grifting donors out of their money. At some point, I hope we learn what he did with all that with their donations.
He obviously didn’t use much of it to take care of the dogs.
The people who sent Buddy to the “Sanctuary” paid Steve Markwell approximately $3000 to build him a kennel. He never built it. Photo from Forks Police.
would love to see Steve be forced into having to pay that money back to his donators or better yet I would love to see him have to pay that money to all the rest news who stepped up and took his dog when he abandoned them in the Arizona desert. We are still caring for two of his dogs that are not able to be rehomed due to behavioral issues and aggression towards humansand it would be wonderful if he had to pay for the extensive rehabilitation of these dogs as well as their housing and veterinary expenses while in rescue organizations
Thank you Seattledogspot for your consistent and high quality reporting on this horrible situation.
I am glad that the states AG continued pursuing Markwell. I only wish the AG could go after the town of Forks and it’s Mayor and make him be held accountable to some degree as well. But I am sure he got his palm ‘greased’ by Markwell on more than one occasion.
Unfortunately the officials didn’t do anything illegal so the AG can’t go after them.
I understand that Steve Markwell should be prosecuted for animal cruelty, but I think the officials of Forks are equally accountable. Much more could have been done by them including dragging the State agencies in to investigate, arrest and prosecute if Forks “lacked the funds for a trial.” To sit idly by and do nothing and site money as the downfall invites other illegal businesses to set up shop in Forks because…hey, they can’t afford to investigate or prosecute anyone.
Most of what Markwell was doing illegally could have also been investigated via computer with little cost (i.e. lack of registering with the state, expenditures via filing of tax returns, checking with local pet supplies to see who, if anyone, delivered goods to the “sanctuary”.) Not to mention they could have spared one under cover cop or even a volunteer fire fighter to sit outside the sanctuary with note pad and camera to document lack of attention and care. Some Forks officials seriously need to lose their jobs over this.
I agree with everything you said.
How do we change the laws to make them more animal-friendly, as described in the article? How does a police dept have the option not to pursue charges (due to lack of funds)? If this were child abuse they would not dare take this stance!
Unfortunately the police have the option of deciding whether or not to pursue a case. We need to pass legislation in Olympia giving the state the ability to step in on animal cruelty cases when the local authorities won’t do anything.
I lived in a town once where the DA took a bribe to release a Murder 1 indictment. Because the local legal system was considered to be compromised, the FBI and other federal agencies came in and took over the investigation. Same thing happened in the civil rights era, feds arrived to enforce the law because many of the South’s legal entities didn’t give a fig if there were lynchings or segregation. So, since the local law enforcement in Clallam isn’t enforcing, and the state isn’t acting either, and since the FBI recently announced that they are going to concern themselves with animal cruelty, I wonder if the FBI could be persuaded to get interested? Wish I knew an attorney!
That’s a good point. But this all happened before the their new policy was enacted so I don’t know if they could do anything about the “Sanctuary” or not.
prosicute to the max…
No animals should suffer like this…
Idiots !!!!!
Would love to see him go to prison, one year per dog who suffered horribly because of the loathsome, heartless jerk he is
There are still animals in his possession….Where is JESS-The Little triPawd….rumored to be one of “his favorites”….with ALL the HORROR that implies!!!
Thank you for sharing this story. Unfortunately these kinds of incidents are happening with an alarming frequency.
We left Seattle in 2006 after 25 years, we started our 501c3 non profit dog rescue here in San Diego. It’s been an incredible experience, and the need is so great here in Southern California.
I wanted to share our story because people need to be so careful with trainers, and rescues. We took one of small our frightened rescue dogs to a local board and train facility and paid $ 4300 for his training. Instead of training him, the trainer took him to the shelter and had him euthanized without our permission or knowledge. She lied and said he was her dog, signed under penalty of perjury and ordered him killed. Horrifically, she pretended he was alive for 2 more weeks, with fake written updates of his progress in order to secure a rescue transfer so as she said, she could “continue to help him and we could find him a home in the right way “. We begged San Diego Animal Control to help us find out what happened. Instead, she lied to San Animal Control, to us, and to everyone to cover it up. We got our money back thru small claims court, but our dog was euthanized for $ 15 and dumped at a local shelter. No closure, no happily after we had arranged for and paid for.
We can’t believe that San Diego Animal control had no interest in helping find out what happened or seeing that this doesn’t happen again. We got a big SURPRISE: We just found out that the San Diego Animal Control investigator is married to the rescue coordinator that facilitated the euthanasia. And the trainer, the rescue coordinator and investigator are all “best” of friends.
We’ve ask for an ethics investigation… and doubt they will do thing. We also did some public records searching about this facility. We found out this “trainer” has taken in 843 animals in the last few years from the shelter where her friend works which located in outside the city limits. (still within the county). In the report that SD Animal Control took about our dog, she stated that she trains only ONE dog at a time. This “trainer” doesn’t hold adoption events, have a Petfinder account, and doesn’t use fosters. It begs the question: Where did all of these animals go? Our rescue dogs are on TV and radio frequently, we hold adoption events, use Petfinder/AdoptAPet, and we can’t move that many dogs and cats in to great homes. We’ve shown the lists to many other rescues and they ask the same question…. Where did those animals go? Why doesn’t SD Animal Control care about what is going on at that facility. We have been working to find out the truth for 8 months now. Would ever you consider telling our story about “Sandy” in his honor maybe we can find some measure of justice for his little short life. And further, maybe we can find out what happen to all of those animals….. and prevent this scam from happening to some other unsuspecting dog owners. My email address is attached. Every single word of our story is true and documented to the letter. We have the public records, reports, everything…. Thanks for your time ! Christine ( Here is a YouTube movie a documentary filmmaker created about the story) “What REALLY happened to Sandy at Shelter Dogs to Dream Dogs ” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbdfsXMQQz0