FORT KENT, Maine — A woman accused of abandoning five dogs in her rented Fort Kent home failed to appear for her scheduled Feb. 2 district court hearing, according to Fort Kent Police Chief Tom Pelletier.
Kim Mitchell Fareed, the owner of the dogs, is currently living in the Boston area, Pelletier said Monday, and faces charges of animal cruelty here in Maine.
“Short of her returning to Maine, this is where things stand,” he said. “We would like to issue the arrest warrant.”
The five dogs were found Christmas Eve abandoned for more than a week in a South Perley Brook Road rental home littered with urine, feces, cigarettes and other trash.
Sgt. Dalen Boucher of the Fort Kent Police Department said at the time that the investigation initially started as a loose dog case.
Officer Spencer Nadeau found a dog running loose outside the home and tried to bring it back to the residence. That is when he came upon the mess inside, along with four other abandoned dogs and several cats.
The landlord and owner of the property, Wayne Vaughan, told the BDN in December that the home had been trashed and that the tenants had “left those animals in there for more than a week, unattended, with no food or water. It was unbelievable.”
The confiscated dogs — which included one cocker spaniel, one cocker spaniel-beagle mix, one Havanese and two chihuahuas — were taken to the Central Aroostook Humane Society in Presque Isle. The cats were taken to PAWS Animal Welfare Society Inc. in Fort Kent. Betsy Hallett, Central Aroostook Humane Society manager said at the time that the dogs were full of mats and soaked in urine and feces. The cocker spaniel had a condition called cherry eye, a disease sometimes seen in young dogs that can cause inflammation, swelling, or infection.
Another dog had an ear infection, and a third had a fatty tumor on its chest.
Since then, a judge signed ownership of the animals over to the state, according to Pelletier.
On Tuesday, Hallett said all of the dogs have been treated, cleared medically and adopted out to new homes in the area and in Bangor.
“Everybody is doing awesome in their new homes,” Hallett said, adding that her staff has seen these kinds of cases before.
“With this one, we feel the owners started out genuinely caring about all of these animals,” she said. “They were all spayed or neutered but they were older and a lot of issues come with aging pets.”
Hallett said it is easy to get overwhelmed by veterinary bills, especially if experiencing difficult financial times.
“These dogs were very well socialized,” she said. “They were great, friendly dogs and they still are.”
Hallett estimates the shelter spent more than $3,000 in caring for and treating the five dogs and said they welcome any donations toward that expense.
Donations may be sent to Central Aroostook Humane Society at 24 Cross Street, Presque Isle, ME 04769.
PAWS accepts donations at P.O. Box 94, Fort Kent Mills, Me. 04744.
Regardless of what led to the situation, Pelletier said Fareed is still facing animal cruelty charges should she return to Maine.
For now, Pelletier said, he is not pursuing extradition in the case, due to the cost of that process.
