Neighbors: Odor only clue to dogs
By NICK REISMAN
Dogs were barking, but only in the distance.
A far different scene played out Monday when police found more than 20 sick dogs covered in feces and confined to their cages inside the house.
The owners, John and Jane Seeley, were charged with 23 counts of misdemeanor animal neglect after police seized the dogs from their feces-littered home.
The dogs — 20 collies and three dachshunds — were taken to SPCA of Upstate New York in Queensbury. Two of the dogs were later euthanized.
Police also found the remains of two dogs that had been stored in a freezer.
Neighbors on Tuesday said they didn’t suspect that the blue ranch-style house, with a canine’s silhouette painted over the garage, was a dog house of horrors.
They could, however, smell the animal waste waft through the air, especially on warm days.
“You could smell the dog feces. It got to the point in the summer that we could smell it in the backyard,” said Michelle Drinkwine, who has lived across the street from the Seeleys for a year. “The smell was really horrendous.”
Drinkwine said she and her fiance first thought the odor was from a farm down the road, but soon realized it was something else.
Neighbor Sylvia Dufford, who also lives across the street from the Seeleys, said she would be awakened at night by barks and howls emanating from the house.
She too noticed a stench in the neighborhood but wasn’t disturbed by it.
“We just chalked it up to living in the country,” she said. “But every now and then I would turn to my husband and ask, ‘What smells like death?’”
The Seeleys had kept the dogs in cages strewn throughout the house, police said. Dogs were penned inside their cages 24 hours a day and could barely walk as a result, according to police. County officials found piles of animal waste and hair stacked in the house.
The property, which also lacked running water, was condemned.
Washington County Code Enforcement Officer Russ Kiggins said it was one of the worst living conditions he’s seen.
“They’re not going to be able to live in that,” Kiggins said Tuesday.
The Queensbury SPCA shelter that’s hosting the 21 surviving dogs was barraged with dozens of calls Tuesday from concerned animal lovers asking what they can do to help. The calls ranged from monetary donations to those asking if they could volunteer to walk and exercise the dogs.
The SPCA’s executive director, Cathy Cloutier, said that people can send in items like dog food, newspapers and dishwasher liquid to help rehabilitate the animals.
But, she said, because the animals are still considered the property of the Seeleys, only the shelter’s staff can walk the dogs.
Until then, Cloutier said that her staff of seven will have to feed and exercise the dogs.
“It’s definitely a big strain on our resources,” she said. “There’s no county shelter in Washington County. My staff has given up their days off to work with these guys.”
Cloutier said she’s also receiving calls from people who have bought dogs from the Seeleys, who are longtime animal breeders.
Fort Edward resident Celeste Brown bought two collies from the Seeleys five years ago. She said she was astounded that her happy and healthy dogs were raised by breeders who, police have charged, kept animals in unhealthy conditions.
Since my parents had bought dogs from them for many generations, I didn’t question where they’re coming from,” Brown said. “They took on way too many dogs and it got out of hand.”
Brown said she hadn’t been to the house on 4 Gould Lane and that Jane Seeley had brought the dogs to her when she purchased them.
“She was really, in her day, she was an excellent handler,” Brown said of Jane Seeley. “We’re just so surprised up here.”