The Animal Humane Society was preparing for potentially its largest seizure ever earlier this month of an estimated 300 cats and dogs from a purported animal rescue north of Bemidji.
But three weeks later, when AHS went to seize the animals, only 64 were recovered alive.
A couple from Hines, Minn., is accused of burning many of the animals. Numerous bones and animal fragments were found in a wood stove and piles of ash, according to the 10 felony animal abuse charges against Debra Kay Marshall, 65, and Douglas Ray Erickson, 49. That’s along with squalid conditions, including an overwhelming smell of ammonia, sickness and animal crates full of feces.
In the aftermath of this case that sent shockwaves across the state, people are critical of officials for failing to act sooner to save the animals.
“AHS absolutely has the resources, and this is where I’m struggling,” said Kerry D’Amato, a former AHS board member and an outspoken critic of a lack of public resources and funding to protect animals.
But accompanying that outrage is compassion, too. In the past week, AHS spokesperson Brittany Baumann said the nonprofit has received more than $34,000 in donations.

Baumann said some of the animals rescued from the Hines property on Dec. 6 may be ready for adoption as early as this weekend from AHS headquarters in Golden Valley. Some of the animals need more time to recover. Some may need to be euthanized after surviving such dire conditions, she said.
The property was known to AHS and the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office. In 2022, Baumann said AHS investigated a handful of complaints, but nothing on the scale of what they recently encountered.