La Pine woman who operated dog rescue faces animal neglect charges

Published 1:20 pm Monday, April 10, 2023

Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office deputies seized 17 dogs from a La Pine woman who is accused of neglecting to care for them in a rescue operation she ran in her home.

Some of the dogs were so malnourished and injured that they required care from a veterinarian, and the conditions they lived in were “not acceptable,” said Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Jason Wall.

Lisa Sorensen, 54, faces 17 felony counts of second-degree animal neglect in connection with the operation at her home on Alpine Drive. She was issued a citation instead of being taken into custody.

Authorities responded to the home during the last week of March after receiving a complaint that Sorensen was operating the dog rescue out of her home.

In all, 24 dogs lived in the home at the time of the seizure, Wall said in a news release issued Monday. Sorensen agreed to give up 17 of them to the sheriff’s office, which gave them to the Humane Society of Central Oregon.

The Humane Society and sheriff’s office met on April 3 to discuss the health of the seized dogs. The agencies determined that “all dogs seized were not receiving minimum care, were malnourished, and in dire need of attention to their general hygiene,” Wall said.

Deputies allowed Sorensen to keep seven dogs she owned personally, “as they were in relatively good condition,” Wall said. Deputies advised Sorensen to improve her living conditions to avoid possible further criminal penalties and the seizure of her dogs.

Still, deputies and the Humane Society did a follow-up with Sorensen and determined that two of the dogs at her home required “mild to moderate care,” but the conditions in her home had improved, Wall said. Deputies plan to continue to conduct follow-ups.

According to Oregon Secretary of State filings, Sorensen’s nonprofit was called “Pibblesnchis Inc.,” and she is listed as the president and secretary.

The case has been referred to the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office.

In a series of posts on the Pibblesnchis public Instagram page on April 1, Sorensen acknowledged that dogs had been taken “forceably” from her home by the authorities. She admitted that she couldn’t afford to adequately take care of all the dogs and that her home had fallen into disarray, saying it was “covered” in feces and urine and stating “that I could not keep up with it and needed help.”

“I have not ever hid the fact that there were too many dogs in my home and I was overwhelmed,” she said, saying at one point that the dogs are in a better situation now than when they were in her care. “I take full responsibility for what happened. They were in my care and I let them down, no one knows that more than me.”

Sorensen said in the post that she was trying to help animals abandoned “by this community that quite honestly could help, could afford to help but wouldn’t.” She said she wanted to prevent the animals from being taken to a shelter “because they are not so nice and would end up dead.”

Sorensen also said: “Yes a couple were skinny not all of them and that is the damn truth you’ve seen pics.” She also suggested that a news article detailing how one of her dogs had an open wound was exaggerated, describing the wound, which left the dog lame, as a “nip” that occurred during a “kerfuffle” with another dog.

She acknowledged that some animals were “very skinny there is no denying that,” but said she was addressing this. She added that “sometimes dogs get skinny for reasons that are not just not being fed. If that were the case all the dogs would be skinny.”

Sorensen could not be reached by phone and did not return a message seeking comment prior to press time Monday.