Dog owners in the Quad Cities and the surrounding area are taking care of collies formerly in possession of Karen Plambeck, the woman accused of hoarding almost 200 dogs. Last week’s animal cruelty trial for Plambeck is now in the hands of the judge. Our Quad Cities News spoke with a family in the Quad Cities and in Kansas City on the dogs they adopted.

Denise and Rich Potter live in Rock Island and have two collies formerly in Plambeck’s possession. Both say they helped out almost every weekend at the Mercer County Animal Shelter, grooming and taking care of the dogs when they were rescued in 2022.

“Being animal lovers, dog lovers, and especially collie lovers, we couldn’t sleep,” Denise Potter said. “It took three days before she would go to the bathroom. She wouldn’t eat, she wouldn’t drink, she didn’t know what grass was.”

The Potters adopted Cleo and Zoey, two dogs that were on Plambeck’s property. “It bothered Zoey when she was out in the sunlight,” the Potters said. “At night time in the dark, when we’d take her out, she seemed to do better. I firmly believe that she was one of the dogs in that barn, in a small cage.”

The trial for Karen Plambeck lasted four days last week and included body camera footage from officials in scene, showing conditions nearly 200 dogs lived in.

“These dogs are beautiful and sweet collies,” the Potters said. “But they are going to have emotional scars for the rest of their life. Zoey was only 5 months old when she was taken, but it was enough with no socialization to put these things in her head.”

Rock Island isn’t the only place where the Sherrard dogs ended up. A couple in Kansas City took April, a collie from the residence.

“Our first goal was to get April to gain some weight because she was so emaciated,” Lisa Rice said. “We took her to the vet and discovered that she had several heart defects, which are common when dogs are so interbred.”

The Minnesota-Wisconsin Collie Rescue helped April, along with other dogs adopted, to make sure they were being put into good homes.

“She recovered well,” Rice said. “Although she has other heart defects that cannot be fixed, she may even have close to a normal life span now because of that. That’s after being given only 6 months to live.”

Those who attended the trial last week are eager to hear the verdict in Mercer County Court.

“I don’t think any reasonable person would think that it’s the right thing to do,” the Potters said. “To keep an animal in a cage, in a barn.”

Judge Matthew Durbin will announce his verdict Wednesday to decide if Plambeck is guilty or not guilty. Our Quad Cities News will be covering the decision the judge makes.