Report: After 7 dogs were fatally shot in Arizona, sole survivor finds her forever home

APACHE COUNTY, Ariz. — >>This story was first reported by Molly K. Ottman with the Mountain Daily Star.

Some good news has come from a tragic situation wherein an Apache County Sheriff’s Office deputy was forced to shoot and kill seven abandoned dogs amidst the county’s growing animal control crisis.

The sole surviving dog of the larger group involved in the incident was rescued and recently found her forever home, Molly Ottman with the Mountain Daily Star reported.

RELATED: ‘Can you take the dogs?’ Apache County deputy shoots 7 dogs that were abandoned and the county had no place for them

The incident happened in September 2023 in Adamana, an unincorporated community in Apache County about 26 miles northeast of Holbrook. The county doesn’t have animal control services and residents often complain about a problem with wild and stray dogs; one candidate for sheriff even has campaigned on a platform of dealing with the county’s abandoned dog problem.

Body camera footage of that day showed the deputy corralling seven of the dogs into a fenced-off enclosure. Two other dogs, eventually named Darla and Bruno, hid under a shed and were left behind after the seven were killed.

Theresa Schumann with Northern Arizona Animal Search and Rescue used trail cameras and set traps to humanely capture Darla and Bruno, Ottman reported.

The dogs were taken to the Holbrook Humane Society for further treatment. Sadly, Bruno contracted parvo and did not survive his illness.

But Darla, the “lone survivor” as Ottman put it, eventually opened up to her care at the shelter and was rehabilitated. Once she was vaccinated, spayed and chipped, Darla was brought to the Mountain Girl Rescue foster home in Flagstaff where she quickly found her forever home.

Polly and Deborah of Pine, Arizona, adopted Darla — renaming her Mya —and found that she was the perfect match to complete their family.

The couple said that she was an amazing, loving and affectionate dog even after all that she had been through, Ottman reported.

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