Malamutes rescued from animal cruelty case thriving in new homes

MONTANA -- Francesca walks around excitedly. She hears a familiar sound but is not quite sure where it is coming from.

"Woo, woo," she hears. "Woo, woo," she answers back. It's the soft barking sound of a malamute. It's also a long-distance conversation between a mother and daughter. The two haven't spoken in months.

An iPad placed at nose-level allows the dogs to communicate via FaceTime, an app that allows people (and dogs, apparently) to communicate face to face while in different places. It's unclear whether the pair actually see each other, but the rapport is obvious. Each time Rosie barks, Francesca walks toward the iPad, tail wagging, and barks back.

Each exchange leads to a delighted laugh by the dogs' respective owners. Two-year-old Francesca belongs to Heather Hill, who lives just outside of Helena, and Rosie is in New York with Natalie Woolbert, who recently adopted the approximately 5-year-old malamute from an animal rescue organization.

"She looks so good," Heather says of Rosie. "She looks like a real dog."

Two years ago, Rosie didn't look like a real dog, or at least a dog who would survive much longer.

When she was seized from Mike Chilinski's malamute breeding operation in Jefferson County on Oct. 12, 2011, Rosie weighed approximately 48 pounds and was also pregnant with 13 puppies. A non-pregnant, adult female malamute typically weighs between 70 and 90 pounds.

Rosie was one of 161 malamutes seized that day. According to a story in the IR at the time, responders found dogs living in feces-encrusted pens, many of them underweight, infested with parasites and some with untreated wounds.

"When I saw her I thought, 'How is that dog still alive?'" Heather said. "I was afraid she was going to die."

Heather was one of the volunteers who fostered some of the seized malamutes. In addition to Rosie — a red malamute, Heather took in a black, pregnant malamute, who she ended up naming Oprah. She couldn't resist naming them after the two talk-show hosts.

Within a few days Rosie and Oprah both went into labor. Rosie had 13 puppies, eight survived. Oprah had seven puppies, five survived.

Heather's home, which she shares with her husband, Scott, and a menagerie of rescued animals, including cows,

chickens, cats, miniature horses and even a pot-bellied pig named Wilson (after the volleyball in the movie "Cast Away"), is perfectly set up to handle lots of dogs. The Hills have a kennel on their property that they once used as a boarding facility. Heather has a history of fostering animals and has worked previously as a veterinary technician.

But 15 malamutes was something new.

"I've rescued animals for years," Heather said, "but this was beyond the scope of anything I'd ever done before."

But whelping and raising litters of puppies was something Rosie and Oprah had done before. And with neighbors Heather calls "angels" and friends and acquaintances bringing special treats, the malamutes thrived. Food and vet care was provided by the Humane Society.

"Rosie was a great mother," Heather said. "Even with how emaciated she was, she fed them, she cleaned them. "I would look at her and think, 'You are amazing.' First she survived and then she had babies. She was affected by the dead ones — she would look for them. And she would dig holes to protect the live puppies.

"She's kind of an inspiration to me."

Heather said Rosie was wary of people at first, but she soon warmed up to her caretaker. It took Rosie almost 24 hours to whelp all 13 puppies.

"They just kept coming," Heather said. "But she let me stay in there the whole time. That's when we bonded; she started to trust me."

As the puppies grew older, Heather and Scott started noticing that Francesca, who had been the runt of Rosie's litter, was being picked on by her siblings.

"She was always at the bottom of the pile," Heather said. "We had nowhere else to bring her, but inside."

Unlucky as a puppy perhaps, at 2 years old, Francesca now has a life most other dogs would envy.

"She's part of the family," Heather said. "She's a goofball."

Francesca's siblings have all been adopted or sent to rescue operations across the country, as well as Oprah and her offspring. Chilinski was sentenced in state court to 30 years with the Montana Department of Corrections, with 25 suspended, in the cruelty case. He was also sentenced in federal court to 18 months in prison for growing 336 marijuana plants.

Rosie was one of the last malamutes to leave the Hills' home. She's been with the Woolbert family since July 20.

Francesca has become a happy member of a new "pack," which includes Pete, Popeye, Janey and Snickers, all rescue dogs of various and varied breeds and backgrounds.

Francesca and her pack roam freely on the Hill property, which has a pond, a chicken coop, a pig pen and even a tree house. On a recent visit, Francesca escorted some humans around her home. She ran up the stairs of the tree house and plopped down on a futon. She loves attention and happily rolls on her back to invite belly scratches.

"Yep, she's a bit spoiled," Heather said.

At the Woolberts, Rosie has settled in. She has a husky companion named Casper, who also was adopted through a rescue operation.

"She seems to be enjoying her new home very much," Natalie said, "but both my dogs are quite spoiled. She has many toys to play with, definitely plenty to eat — which she thoroughly enjoys — and a family that loves her."

The Woolberts adopted Rosie after one of their other dogs passed away.

"We were quite upset, he was almost 14," Natalie said. "So I guess I looked at it as: one life ends and you help save another."

As the Face Time conversation continues, Rosie and Francesca each sniff at the iPad screen suspiciously.

"I'm glad you didn't keep Rosie," Natalie tells Heather. "We love her to death. She's such a joy to have around."

"It's so good to see her looking so good," Heather says. "She could have gone the opposite way — with all she's been through.

"It's amazing how forgiving dogs are," Heather says.

"They don't think about the past," Natalie says.

(Tribtown - Oct 18, 2013)