What happened to dogs rescued from Eastern WA apartment with 22 dead animals?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Rescued German shepherds are healthy and available for adoption
- After 22 dead animals found in apartment, animal cruelty charged
- State wildlife authorities recovered a cougar pelt and hawk from fridge and freezer
Two German shepherds rescued last month from a College Place apartment with 22 dead birds and animals are available for adoption.
Both are doing well under the care of the Blue Mountain Humane Society in Walla Walla, the agency said.
Two peafowls also were rescued from the apartment. Court records do not indicate whether they are males — or peacocks — with a train of colorful feathers, or they are less colorful peahens.
According to documents in Walla Walla County Superior Court, Benjamin W. Read was current on his rent for an apartment at 210 N. College Ave., but the apartment manager told police she had not seen him for months.
She reported smelling dead animals for months but her reports to the apartment complex owners in Seattle were ignored, according to a court document.
College Place police were called to the apartment complex on May 18 by a neighbor who said she heard constant barking from one apartment and had not seen the tenant there for more than two months, according to a court document.
Two officers arrived and looked into a back window of the apartment, describing what they saw as “extremely unsanitary with dried up feces, garbage, several dead birds and two German shepherds that were walking around.”
When the apartment manager let them into the unit “the smell was unbearable even with masks on,” said one of the responding officers in a court document.
“There were animal feces, bones, fur and other unknown animals’ parts everywhere throughout the apartment,” according to the document.
The dogs ran out of the apartment, and were friendly but extremely thirsty, according to a court document. They looked to be in good health other than having fur that was falling off and matted.
There was no food or water in the apartment that officers could see, with even the toilet lid closed, according to a court document.
In a back bedroom were the three birds, with no food or water available. The officers fed them sunflower seeds before they left and while attempts were being made to get help for the birds.
Pioneer Park Aviary agreed to help the next day, but one of the birds had died when they arrived to pick them up.
The apartment had 16 additional dead birds, in cages and on the floor, all of them dried up, according to a court document. At least some of them appeared to be parrots.
Neighbors said two cats lived in the apartment, and officers said there looked to be small bones and cat fur on the floor. A dead cat later was found under a bed, according to a court document.
A dead lizard also was found in a cage.
College Place Mayor Norma Hernandez posted on social media May 23 that she was “heartbroken, outraged and disgusted by what was discovered. The suffering inflicted upon these innocent animals is beyond comprehension and has shaken our entire community.”
WA wildlife officials called in
Officers checked the fridge and freezer, finding wildlife. Read and his partner may have been operating a taxidermy business, police said.
College Place police contacted the Washington state Fish and Wildlife Department, which recovered about 22 items from the apartment, including a cougar pelt, two river otters, an owl, several coyote furs and a red-tailed hawk, which is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, according to a court document.
Fish and Wildlife officials said they had “history with Benjamin Read” and his partner and asked to take over the case, according to a court document. The state agency has launched an investigation.
College Place police arrested Read, who was in a vehicle in College Place, two days after entering his apartment.
He pleaded innocent to first-degree animal cruelty. His attorney could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.
A person referred to as Read’s partner in court records also was arrested in the case, but was released when a judge determined there was not adequate evidence to charge the partner with a crime.
This story was originally published June 22, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "What happened to dogs rescued from Eastern WA apartment with 22 dead animals?."