Whatcom standoff deescalated, cats and dogs rescued from reported ‘deplorable’ conditions
The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office successfully deescalated a standoff and helped rescue several dogs and cats living in “deplorable” conditions, after a woman believed to be suffering from a mental health crisis barricaded herself in her RV.
The 52-year old Maple Falls woman was booked into Whatcom County Jail Tuesday, Jan. 26, on suspicion of second-degree mischief, first-degree criminal trespassing and resisting arrest.
She was then released and taken to St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham for treatment of her suspected mental health crisis, Chief Deputy Kevin Hester said in an email to The Bellingham Herald.
Deputies were called to the 6000 block of Silver Spruce Way in Maple Falls after the woman went onto a neighbor’s property and broke a window in the victim’s home, Hester reported.
The woman then barricaded herself in an RV on the property where she was staying and refused to come out, according to Hester.
The sheriff’s office mental health deputies were eventually able to talk her into coming out, Hester reported, but they found the living conditions inside the RV were “deplorable.”
The Whatcom County Humane Society was called to take custody of pets are the residence, and Hester reported additional charges could be coming for animal abuse.
The Humane Society removed an elderly retriever mix and a small terrier mix and trapped one cat and is searching for another, according to Executive Director Laura Clark in an email to The Bellingham Herald Saturday, Jan. 30.
She said the animals remain in protective custody and are not available for adoption at this time.
