‘Cruel’ owner will be getting dogs back

Update: Diva and the two other dogs who had been in foster homes have now been returned to Regional Animal Services of King County in preparation for their transfer back to Margaret Hamilton.

“We’ve spent this time since the case started to make sure that we’re bringing them back to health, that they have been spayed and neutered, and that they are getting the care and things that they need,” says Cameron Satterfield with Animal Services.

The judge has ordered the agency to do twice yearly inspections of the place where the dogs are being kept. Also, Hamilton will have to submit all veterinary records for review.

Previous Story: Eight months ago, more than a hundred dogs were discovered
in deplorable conditions; fourteen of them had to be
euthanized. Now, thanks to a plea agreement, the owner
could be getting three of those animals back.

Rebecca Szper has been fostering one of the dogs, a 1-
year-old chihuahua named Diva, since the investigation
began back in October.

“She was pretty emaciated. She had an ear infection,”
remembers Szper.

She says the dog did not even sniff around or initiate
play like other young dogs would. It took months for her
to begin acting normally. Now that she does, Szper has
decided the name doesn’t fit. She calls her DD to better
describe her quirky, playful personality.

“What really scares me, particularly thinking about DD
going back, is the fact that some of the dogs’ jaw bones
had rotted out,” Szper says.

She has been told by the Seattle Animal Shelter that she
may have to relinquish the animal as soon as Friday.

The owner, 70-year-old Margaret Hamilton, pleaded guilty
to two counts of animal cruelty. She has been ordered by
the court to pay $35,500 in fines.

Szper says she will keep DD for as long as she is allowed.
She is afraid that if she goes back, the little chihuahua
could end up like more than a dozen of Hamilton’s other
dogs – euthanized because they had become too sick to
survive.