Andover dog rescue owner charged with animal cruelty accused of operating again
ST. PAUL, Minn. — A dog rescue owner charged with torturing animals is now accused of continuing to operate.
Carley Ryan was charged with 22 counts of animal mistreatment in January, including four felonies, and her Andover animal rescue was shut down.
"It became too overwhelming too fast," she told WCCO then.
Anoka County prosecutors now say police got a tip last month that Ryan was "continuing to operate a 'rescue' and sell dogs and puppies" under a different name.
According to court filings, two people told police that puppies they brought home "were sick, or became sick."
They also say Ryan "was...still actively driving out of state to an auction house where she was purchasing dogs."
These actions would be in violation of Ryan's release conditions.
Ryan declined an interview Thursday, but she did respond to texts from WCCO.
She confirmed the prosecutors' assertion that she's been going by a different name, saying it's because of death threats.
Ryan denied involvement with the new rescue, saying it was started by her former coworkers, "but there were still some funds in the previous rescue account and I was the only one who could access it."
She also told WCCO, "I have not set foot at any auctions, or anything of that sort."
WCCO spoke to a woman who fostered four of Ryan's dogs last year, and she's not buying Ryan's story.
"She was talking about going to auction and getting more dogs [after the police search of her rescue]," the woman said. "I said, 'Carley, you can't be doing this right now,' and it didn't seem to bother her at all, the weight of this investigation."
The woman shared pictures of some of Ryan's dogs and detailed their dire health conditions.
In the charges against Ryan, prosecutors say her rescue had an "overwhelming odor of feces and urine," "cages that were inadequate in size" and "no clean and dry place to stand or lay."
Despite prosecutors saying Ryan violated her release, court records show the judge allowed her to remain free without bail.