People have been literally tossing dogs at the Mae Bachur Animal Shelter.
In the last week, the shelter has seen a rash of people dumping their puppies overnight.
Monday, staff members found a dog that had been shoved into a dog house outside of the shelter.
“We tried to coax it out of the doghouse, but it just kept growling,” said shelter manager Tracy Smythe.
So a staff member sat outside with the dog for awhile before she realized that the dog had no use of its legs.
Smythe isn’t sure what caused the paralysis, but on Thursday evening a board member suggested the dog may have been fed drugs.
The next day someone got out of a truck and threw a puppy “like a ball” into the doghouse and drove away, said Smythe.
And a couple months ago, someone dumped a box of six puppies over the shelter fence.
“The person saw that there was a padlock on the fence and couldn’t get in so they just threw the box of puppies over top of the fence,” she said.
Currently the shelter has 21 puppies and 16 dogs, far more than the number of kennels at the shelter.
“We’re squeezing dogs in and staff are having to take some home,” said Smythe.
This year in particular, the shelter has been overwhelmed with dogs.
“People really, really need to spay and neuter their animals,” said Smythe.
“Last year was bad enough and it just seems like it’s getting worse.”
The shelter is seeking foster homes for the puppies in addition to donations to pay for shots and spaying and neutering the animals. (Vivian Belik)
