Spokane dog breeder under investigation, license revoked for unhealthy conditions at Airway Heights facility

A Spokane-area breeder’s kennel license was suspended following multiple inspections showing unsanitary conditions for dogs and a foul odor that left officers with burning eyes.

Susan McCoury, the owner of Wildwoof Kennels in Airway Heights, was notified over the weekend that her facility violated multiple parts of the county code prohibiting unsanitary and unhealthy conditions, according to a report issued by the Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service. The kennel’s website indicates McCoury breeds American and Australian shepherds.

When animal protection officers went to McCoury’s property off North Hayford Road this month, they counted 232 animals in total, according to county spokesperson Pat Bell. Not all were dogs.

Officers found many of the animals at the kennel did not have an adequate supply of drinking water and there was no area where sick animals could be isolated from healthy ones, according to the report.

“The buildings which contained animals at the facility had a strong foul odor,” the report said. “The odor was so powerful Animal Protection Officers had trouble breathing and their eyes burned.”

Following two visits, one on Jan. 11 and another two weeks later, SCRAPS has opened a large-scale investigation into McCoury’s facility, Bell said.

McCoury claims her license was revoked because she had more than the amount of dogs allowed in a commercial kennel and because she had dogs sleeping in crates.

She is closing her kennel and re-homing the dogs, she told The Spokesman-Review, and “the dogs that came from other breeders are being returned to them.”

Melissa Zobell, a dog breeder in Utah, has known McCoury since 2014, when she offered to trade handling services in exchange for puppies. Zobell would breed the dogs and give them to McCoury, who would parade them at dog shows free of charge. According to the Wildwoof website, the dogs have won multiple American Kennel Club awards.

But when Zobell asked to enter her house, McCoury refused, she said.

“She kept saying she couldn’t have a lot of dogs and she was under the radar,” Zobell said.

Last year, Zobell contacted McCoury about a dog named “Pistol” she had wanted to breed because he was getting older. When Zobell learned Pistol was suddenly in poor condition, she offered to take the dog back to get him to a specialist to help but, Zobell said, McCoury refused.

On Friday morning, Zobell attempted to confront McCoury over the conditions at her home. She was getting call after call from other Spokane breeders, she said, and they were panicked. All of them wanted to go get their dogs back from McCoury’s property.

Zobell still hadn’t heard about Pistol.

“ANSWER ME, WHERE IS PISTOL,” Zobell wrote. “You are euthanizing to cover up their lack of socialization.”

McCoury then told Zobell she had euthanized the dog.

“Pistol was old and I put him down as he was starting to go downhill,” McCoury wrote.

“You belong in jail,” Zobell responded.

McCoury maintains the allegations coming from Zobell and other breeders are false and declined to comment further.

“Treating animals with respect should be priority number one,” Zobell said Friday. “We want to build better dogs. An ethical, responsible breeder builds better dogs.”