McLaughlin was interested in helping Butters and began to paint a perfect picture of the specialty veterinarians she worked with who would care for him. Chavez started to research McLaughlin, who introduced herself as Samantha Taylor and found endorsements by reputable organizations such as SWAT Transport and features in The Dodo publication, which focuses on heartwarming stories about animals. Chavez didn’t immediately see cause for concern and agreed to a phone call to discuss the next steps. 

“She sounded completely normal,” mentioned Chavez. “She knew the vernacular, the right words to say. It sounded like she was a legit rescue.” 

Soon after, Butters went to Arizona, hoping to start his rehabilitation journey. Chavez kept a close eye on McLaughlin throughout the summer and realized she was taking in many dogs. More than a rescue her size could realistically handle. Then McLaughlin became inconsistent with her updates and even stopped sending photos of Butters’ progress. That’s when the alarm bells went off for Chavez. 

“I was in chinga trying to figure out who she really was, and it took me four months of investigating to find the truth,” said Chavez.

After extensive research and calls to shelters that had transported dogs to SNAWL, Chavez found that McLaughlin was running a fake rescue. She would receive special needs dogs and ask for donations through her rescue on social media. The dogs that ended up in her care never received the rehabilitation they were promised. Instead, they were kept in her backyard without access to water or shelter. She was hoarding 55 disabled dogs, none of whom received any proper medical care. 

Once the severity of the situation became clear, Chavez and a colleague from Yaqui traveled to Arizona to get their dogs back. Unfortunately, they were met with resistance from McLaughlin and an unhelpful police department. 

“You could hear all the dogs barking inside the house,” Chavez described. “You could smell the house from half a block away; that’s how pungent the smell was. It smelled like death.” 

There were no hoarding laws in Chalder, and so the police did not find probable cause to remove any of the dogs from the residence. A move that Chavez and many other activists, who had joined efforts to get their dogs back, greatly condemned. 

It took the collective effort of shelters and rescue organizations from around the country, Handover Rover, Be Like Josh Foundation, Deity Animal Rescue, amongst many others, to finally remove the dogs from the horrific conditions they had been living under. 

Yaqui published their findings on their social media pages, which aided the Arizona Humane Society and the Chandler Police Department in their investigation. McLaughlin has been charged with 55 counts of animal abuse, and several charges are still pending.