Puppies left to fend for themselves

PARK HILLS — Someone dumped five puppies on a street in Park Hills, leaving them to fend for themselves in the cold.

They could have been run over. They could have frozen.

Cpl. Ellie Tucker said the police department was called about the puppies early Tuesday morning. The officers took the pups, which had been dumped on High Street, to the city pound across the street from the police department. The pups, which are believed to be about 6 weeks old and are mixed breed, were too young to be outside so they were going to have to be in a cage inside.

Realizing they didn’t have the capability to provide adequate care for the pups, police officers made several calls to find homes for the “adorable” pups they had quickly fallen in love with.

“We don’t have the facilities to keep that young of puppies,” Tucker explained.

After weighing their options, Tucker decided to take the pups to Farmington Pet Adoption Center, a no-kill animal shelter. She knew there was a fee to turn over the pets, so she and Police Chief Bill Holloway decided to make the donation out of their own pockets.

These pups were lucky.

Jane Wibbles, director of the no-kill center, said people don’t realize what a burden they put on people when they dump animals and the danger they put animals in. She said dumping animals on the road is absolutely foolish.

It is extremely important that people spay or neuter their animals so this doesn’t happen, she added. People need to be responsible — if the owners are going to allow their dogs to have puppies, they need to be prepared to find or give them good homes.

The no-kill shelter’s “surrender fee” is $45 a pet. The fee is for the vet costs they incur.

Like all animals taken into the shelter, the pups will stay on quarantine for two weeks to make sure that haven’t been exposed to any diseases like parvo.

The pups will be available after two weeks. The adoption fee for dogs is $100 which “covers everything except the rabies tag.”

For more information, call the center at 573-756-8658.

The adoption center is located at 2901 US 67 South. Their hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. The shelter can house up to 50 dogs and 50 cats.

Teresa Ressel is a reporter for the Daily Journal and can be reached at 573-431-2010, ext. 179 or at tressel@dailyjournalonline.com