by Staff Report
Tutu, a 3-year-old Chihuahua, is one of 15 young dogs currently being kept at the Skagit Valley Humane Society, which also has placed 20 dogs in foster care. Tutu was one of 443 dogs seized from a kennel operation at Big Lake in January.
A Big Lake couple has forfeited more than 400 dogs that prosecutors say were involved in a large “puppy mill,” according to the Skagit County Prosecutors Office.
Richard and Marjorie Sundberg had petitioned Skagit County Superior Court to retrieve their more than 400 dogs that were seized from the Mountain View Road property during two raids by the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office in January.
The couple is charged with four felonies and six misdemeanors including animal cruelty and transporting or confining an animal in an unsafe manner for their dog breeding operation.
A civil hearing on the custody of the dogs was scheduled for this Thursday, but prosecutors and the Sundbergs’ attorneys came to an agreement on the custody issue Wednesday, said Skagit County Prosecutor Rich Weyrich.
He said the forfeiture of the dogs, a civil matter, does not have any bearing on the criminal case.
Nine dogs that possibly belong to other owners will continue to stay in the county’s care, as well as the specific dogs cited in the criminal case, Weyrich said. All the others are now the property of local rescue organizations.
