Christ Yoder
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SUPERIOR – Abandoned in a cardboard box, only a chance discovery and an act of kindness kept seven new puppies from dying. They are among the new litters that serve as a reminder to local animal shelters that puppy and kitten season has arrived.
A home health care worker found seven mixed breed puppies left in a box along Carswell Hollow Road and brought them to the McDowell County Humane Society shelter. Director Sharon Sagety said they wouldn’t have survived for long if someone hadn’t found them.
“They were only 3 weeks old,” she recalls. “They weren’t even eating, so it was a big job looking after them. It takes a lot of care to feed them. They arrived in terrible shape, but they turned around and they are doing very well now. “
This abandoned litter is not the refuge’s first this year.
“And then there was a stray dog in Welch that had been in town for a while and she had puppies,” Sagety said. “The owner of the Riverside gas station followed her and found the puppies, and slipped under an abandoned house and retrieved the puppies.”
Puppy and kitten occupy animal shelters as more litters are found.
“We get so many calls and we have very little space, and we already have so many (dogs and cats),” said Sagety. “In fact, our shelter is overloaded right now. We hope to make a transport on the 24th (June). We welcome as many as we can and help as many as we can, but once completely full we cannot accept until we move them.
The puppies found in the Carswell area were around 4 weeks old, and the puppies are not available for adoption until they are 8 weeks old, Sagety said. More litters could arrive as the summer continues.
“Usually at this time of year there is an explosion of puppies and kittens. We continue to focus on sterilization and sterilization, ”she said.
The pandemic has added to the pressure as families struggling with job losses and trying to find new jobs have had to relocate; they often cannot take their pets with them. Sometimes these dogs and cats are simply abandoned.
“The poor animals are suffering because of this,” Sagety said. “That’s the sad thing.”
Sagety added that if the Humane Society shelter couldn’t take the abandoned puppies, they would have referred them to another shelter or shelter without killing.
“If the owners were more responsible, we wouldn’t have unwanted puppies and kittens,” she said.
The Tazewell County Animal Shelter was seeing more new kittens than new puppies, according to manager Jenny Dawson.
“Well, in the spring and early summer we always see an influx of kittens more than anything,” she said. “Yes, we are certainly seeing it already. We receive calls several times a day from people who have found pregnant kittens or cats. We try to take as many as possible and send as many as possible to rescues. “
This year, the Tazewell County Shelter saw a decrease in the number of puppies brought in. Spaying and neutering appear to decrease the county’s homeless dog population, Dawson said.
“We don’t adopt cats as much as we do dogs. Gradually we are seeing a decrease in the number of puppies and we see that as the value of neutering, ”she said. “I think cats are always a big challenge for everyone.”
More stray cats are seen in Tazewell County and neighboring Mercer County than dogs, and both counties have colonies of feral cats.
“It’s a problem everywhere,” Dawson said. “A lot of shelters in Virginia don’t accept cats and more and more people are caring for stray animals. They are harder to find because they reproduce so quickly.
The Tazewell County Animal Shelter currently has around 60 cats, many of which are kittens.
“And June is shelter cat adoption month,” Dawson said. “And right now the Tazewell County Animal Shelter has a $ 30 adoption for cats and kittens, and that covers the spay and neuter and rabies vaccinations. The best way to deal with overpopulation in dogs and cats is spaying and neutering. “
Representatives from the Mercer County Animal Shelter were unavailable for comment.
– Contact Greg Jordan at [email protected]
