Keokuk County, IA

KILJ — Mount Pleasant’s Sami Wibben placed sixth at the Southeast Conference meet yesterday at Flint Hills Golf Course. Wibben and Kylie Walderbach were the lone Panthers to compete. Walderbach carded a 123. Burlington’s Lauren Briggs was the meet medalist shooting a 79. Natalie Ames of Keokuk...

DES MOINES, Iowa– The Animal Rescue League of Iowa continues to nurse its most recent rescues back to health. Some of the dogs we got an update on are a Great Dane that was found starving in a wire crate and the most recent puppy mill rescue near Hedrick.

The Keokuk County Sheriff’s Office, in conjunction with the Iowa State Police Association is warning the public about a scam currently circulating the state and KCII listening area. The Keokuk County Sheriff’s Office shared via social media that the person perpetrating the scam calls the potential victim on a number that shows on caller ID as a valid law enforcement phone number, and they claim to be an officer, investigator or federal agent. They claim that your identity has been stolen or that you have an arrest warrant and demand that money be transferred, wired or given to them in prepaid gift cards to clear the charges.

A Keota man was recently sentenced for a December 22, 2020 incident. Court documents show through a plea agreement, 40-year-old Joshua Charles Lynam is convicted of possession of methamphetamine third or subsequent offense, a class D felony, and operating while intoxicated first offense, a serious misdemeanor. Lynam was sentenced to serve up to five years in prison at the Iowa Classification Center in Oakdale with credit for time served. He must also pay a total of $2,275 in fines with surcharges, but was found not to have the reasonable ability to pay Category B restitution.

A veterinarian evaluated the animals, who were living in overcrowded makeshift outdoor pens, and determined they needed to be evacuated immediately. Many were suffering from ear and eye infections, diarrhea, and upper respiratory infections as well as being underweight.

(Hedrik, IA) — Sixty-five dogs and puppies have been rescued from a property in Keokuk County. The Animal Rescue League of Iowa was alerted about the animals being moved from a puppy mill in Florida to Hedrik. A-R-L director of animal services, Joe Stafford, describes the scene as “horrible” as the animals suffered from lack of care. Stafford says it will take some time for the dogs to recover so they can be adopted. The Keokuk County Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate the case.

The Animal Rescue League of Iowa (ARL) says it has rescued 65 dogs and puppies from a property near Hedrick after receiving a tip from Florida. According to ARL, an Animal Welfare Intervention Coordinator received a call from authorities in Florida, who were working on an animal neglect case where dogs had gone missing and were thought to be in Iowa. The Keokuk County Sheriff’s Office was contacted as the group made its way to the suspected property in Keokuk County.

(Des Moines, IA) -- The Iowa Department of Agriculture says avian influenza has been confirmed in a commercial turkey flock in Bremer County. Ag Secretary Mike Naig says it is the first case in the last two weeks -- and he hopes that means we “won’t see the length of the outbreak be quite as long because you won’t have it moving from farm to farm.” The 30-thousand turkeys at the Bremer County facility are being destroyed to prevent the virus from spreading. This latest case means the clock resets on Iowa’s ban on live poultry exhibitions. The state needs to go 30 days without a new bird flu case before events with live birds can resume.

DES MOINES, Iowa – The Animal Rescue League of Iowa is caring for another 65 dogs and puppies after participating in a rescue operation in southeast Iowa. The ARL’s Animal Care Manager Megan Davies tells WHO 13 they were alerted Tuesday about the situation by Keokuk County authorities. They had received a tip from law enforcement in Florida about some dogs that had gone missing from Citrus County, Florida during an investigation into animal neglect.