LYONS, Colo. — Nearly 80 dogs are in need of new homes after the operator of an animal sanctuary in Lyons was evicted from the property, NOCO Humane said on Wednesday.
NOCO Humane coordinated the care and transfer of 78 large dogs from Just 4 Jacks Ranch & Sanctuary on Wednesday. The sanctuary had been operating without a license for at least a year, according to NOCO Humane and court records.
The tenant of the property was served an eviction notice in December for not paying rent on time, records show. The Pet Animal Care Facilities Act (PACFA) — a program of the Colorado Department of Agriculture — appointed NOCO Humane as the caretaker for the dogs.
“We recognize that this is a challenging and devastating situation for all involved,” said Judy Calhoun, CEO of NOCO Humane, “but we are also grateful that we have the capacity to provide these wonderful animals with a home in the face of homelessness.”
NOCO Humane coordinated the transfer of 72 dogs to other shelters and rescues, including:
- Animal Friends Alliance
- Cheyenne Animal Shelter
- Dumb Friends League
- Foothills Animal Shelter
- Humane Society of Boulder Valley
- Humane Society of the Pike Peak Region
- Mattersville
- Maxfund
- National Mill Dog Rescue
- Riverdale Animal Shelter.
"It’s a big operation," Calhoun said. "A lot of equipment, a lot of safety equipment, there’s extra kennels. Dog treats and stuff like that if we needed to catch the dogs, plenty of leashes, obviously extra crates."
NOCO Humane is also coordinating with rescues and individuals that might have provided care to any of the dogs prior to their relocation to the Lyons property.
Scott Wendelberger, with NOCO Humane, said two dogs on the property weren't captured Wednesday and staff members were at the sanctuary Thursday working to retrieve the dogs. As of Thursday afternoon, they had not been retrieved. As of Friday, they have been retrieved.
According to court documents, in December 2022, NOCO Humane filed a complaint alleging that the tenant was housing and sheltering more than 15 dogs in his home without a valid PACFA license. Around Jan. 6, 2023, PACFA confirmed the tenant, Drew Renkewitz, was housing about 56 dogs without a license at Just 4 Jacks Ranch & Sanctuary, which he founded. Also, the property was zoned for residential use, NOCO Humane said.
Renkewitz was asked to rehome the dogs, but he continued to "harbor, house, and shelter" the animals.
In March, the tenant submitted an application for a PACFA license to operate a pet animal shelter and sanctuary.
"Because we then know that agency, that organization, that business is meeting those minimum standards," Calhoun said.
PACFA conducted four pre-license inspections between April and October, and the sanctuary failed all inspections. Court documents didn't specify why the sanctuary failed the inspections.
For more information about licensing requirements, click here.
On Oct. 30, PACFA denied the defendant the license application and issued a cease-and-desist order. On Dec. 27, PACFA executed an administrative search warrant at the home, where they found 82 dogs on the property in violation of the order.
Six of the primarily Husky-mix dogs will make their way to NOCO Humane’s Larimer Campus in Loveland.
“We are happy to report that the dogs appear to be both healthy and well-socialized with other dogs and people,” Calhoun said. “Hopefully, this means that they won’t need to spend too much time in an unfamiliar shelter environment, especially since these dogs are accustomed to living outdoors.”
Calhoun acknowledged that Huskies are pack animals.
"Yes, they're social animals, yes they're pack animals. But it's not a pack of 80, it's smaller packs," Calhoun said.
“I am fighting this whole thing,” Renkewitz said. "I opened it up 3 and a half years ago and brought Huskies and northern breeds to the sanctuary."
Calhoun said the conditions at the property were dirty.
"The conditions in the house were really quite dirty," Calhoun said. "You could not really tell that the floor, what color really the floor was."
"The issue we had in there, we were moving stuff out, you know, it's my house," Rankewitz said. "The problem is I let the dogs live in there. That’s what I did, and the issue we were having is I am moving stuff out. Dust is coming off of furniture in there, pictures, everything. Yeah, it was dirty, no questions asked."
Calhoun said it also smelled like urine and feces.
"It’s a perfect storm. We got ambushed, and it’s all because of licensing. It’s not a cause of abused dogs," Renkewitz said. "I clean up the property every day, and they came at 9:00 in the morning while we were still feeding. You got to understand this is an operating sanctuary. This place ran 24 hours a day. There were scheduled times to do things… I pick that stuff up every day, okay."
At NOCO Humane, each of the dogs will undergo a full medical and behavioral evaluation and will receive any specialized care as needed.
“We anticipate that these dogs will be excellent adoption candidates, and we look forward to finding each of them a home,” Calhoun said.
People interested in adoption can visit nocohumane.org, where the list of adoptable animals is updated every 15 minutes.
“We will, of course, remind potential adopters that huskies and other northern breed dogs typically require daily exercise and an outlet for their high-energy and natural athleticism,” Calhoun said.
In a well-suited household, Huskies can be magnificent pets, the release said.
“I’m sure these dogs are going to bring a lot of smiles to the faces of their new families, and I’m glad that NOCO Humane could be a part of their stories,” according to the release.
NOCO Humane owns and operates two animal shelters in Northern Colorado:
- Larimer Campus (formerly Larimer Humane Society) 3501 E. 71st St. in Loveland
- Weld Campus (formerly The Humane Society of Weld County) 1620 42nd St. in Evans
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