In June, 2023 we sent two special needs dogs, Checo and Butters, to the Special Needs Animal Welfare League (SNAWL) located in Chandler, Arizona.

On September 8, 2023, Yaqui Animal Rescue traveled from South Texas to Arizona to the home of April Addison McLaughlin, also known as Sydney Taylor McKinley. We had become suspicious of her rescue practices and wanted to assess the well-being of our disabled dogs, Checo and Butters. We entrusted McLaughlin to ?rescue and rehabilitate? our dogs at her special needs animal rescue. She did not.

Our decision to conduct an in-person welfare check on the dogs stemmed from McLaughlin?s repeated refusal to provide updates on our dogs. Upon arriving at her home, what we saw, heard, and smelled as we approached her front door is something we will never forget. The odor was putrid, and it was evident that many deaths had occurred at her residence. We could also hear what sounded like more than 40 dogs barking and screaming for help after we knocked on her door.

On September 22, 2023, April McLaughlin was finally apprehended, and 55 dogs were seized from her residence. Five dead puppies were found frozen in her freezer, next to the food she was feeding her elderly mother. Kennels were stacked 7 feet high, and all dogs were without water. Most were laying in their own feces. They all suffered physical, mental, and emotional abuse at Special Needs Animal Welfare League (SNAWL).

April Addison petitioned for 13 "family dogs" to remain under her care. On 10/11/23 during a court hearing, a Chandler Municipal Court judge denied April McLaughlin?s petition to get 13 dogs back into her custody.

The prosecutor asked the court to issue an abandonment order for 34 other dogs from her home. Butters, the boy who started it all, and 34 other dogs, are being released from the Arizona Humane Society back into the care of rescues.