POSTED: 3:46 pm EDT May 7, 2007
UPDATED: 6:21 pm EDT May 7, 2007

PITTSBURGH -- Channel 11's Gordon Loesch investigated an animal shelter after receiving complaints from people who drove 200 miles to buy dogs only to find out they were sick.

Maggie was one of those dogs. Her owners said they had already purchased her when they found out she was seriously ill.

She had a severe upper respiratory infection and an enlarged heart.

Her owner Heather Yanyo told Loesch, "She was real lethargic. She wouldn't get up on her own. She wouldn't come out of the kennel. All she wanted to do was lay around.

"Meanwhile, other new dog owners in Pittsburgh told Loesch they were making even more startling discoveries.

Marisa Rose adopted Sentinel on Jan. 29th. Seven days later the puppy was dead.

Both dogs, as well as a third in our area that also quickly died, were all adopted from the same place.

In each case the Pittsburgh-area owners drove across state lines to West Virginia to pay and then pick up their dogs in an abandoned parking lot.

Online Katie's Rescue Shelter shows adorable dogs available to loving 'homes.

'But just what kind of 'home' is this shelter?

Loesch traveled to Summersville, W. V. to find out.

With no listed address it wasn't easy to find. He finally found the long driveway that led to Katie's Shelter. It was chained and locked. ...Click here to read the whole story

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Comment From Nicholas County Sheriff's Office


Press Release from Nicholas County Sheriff's Office on Katie's Shelter:

"I, Deputy R.T. Allison of the Nicholas County Sheriff’s department. We have been conducting and investigating complaints on Katie's Rescue for allegedly selling sick animals to several people from the Western Pennsylvania area. I have been in contact with the West Virginia State veterinarian office, Dr. Starcher. I have also been in contact with the Secretary of States office of West Virginia and talked with Mr. Cummings. The case has also been referred to the State Tax department and the Internal Revenue Service. I have also referred the case to the Nicholas County prosecuting attorneys office, also being investigating is the fact that the subjects that bought the sick animals and took them across state lines without a certificate of health. We can not answer any questions at this time due to the case still being under investigation."

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Well it seems that Lynn Bay and her husband have not changed their practices in the last 1 ^1/2 years. They just changed their rescue's name. Here is a new story that sounds like a carbon copy of the one from 2007. Luckily this last episode has apparently finally gotten them thrown off PetFinder.

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Puppy sting nets shelter owner

An operator of a West Virginia animal rescue shelter, arrested Saturday in a sting operation in Richland, pleaded guilty Monday to charges that she violated Pennsylvania dog laws.

Carrie Lynn Bay, 35, was released from Bucks County Prison when her husband arrived from West Virginia to post bail. She had spent two nights in jail.

Bay was arrested when she sold two puppies to state Dog Warden Verna North and Warminster Animal Control Officer Craig Claycomb. The pair were posing as buyers when they met Bay at a shopping center on Route 309 and West Pumping Station Road.

Bay was cited for selling a dog in a public place, selling a dog in Pennsylvania without a license and failure to provide vaccination records.

Claycomb said that authorities went after Bay after receiving complaints from two families who had purchased puppies from Bay on Dec. 20 at a shopping center near where Saturday's arrest was made.

He said both puppies died of canine parvovirus a short time after the families had gotten the dogs from Bay. The virus is highly contagious and one of the most common infectious diseases in dogs.

Claycomb said one of the families spent $4,000 in veterinary costs trying to save their puppy.

Authorities made arrangements earlier this month to buy the dogs from Bay's rescue operation through a Web site, said Claycomb. Bay and her husband operated Katie's Rescue Shelter and, later, Wonderful Animals shelter. He said that the plan was to make two purchases Saturday afternoon. Bay had brought six dogs with her.