Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Abandoning pets on the side of the road is a criminal offense, but someone left 14 puppies on the side of the road anyway Friday, June 6, and the Animal Welfare League of Kosciusko County found itself taking care of them.
When the animal shelter reached out to the community for puppy food, an estimated 500 cans were donated.
Jill Smith, AWL dog behaviorist and trainer, recalled right before the end of the day Friday, a good Samaritan called and said they were bringing in 14 puppies they had found while driving down CR 700S/Packerton Road in Claypool. Two others were dead on the side of the road.
“It looks to be like it’s two separate litters, same location they came from,” Smith said. “We believe the puppies are about 6 weeks old and 8 weeks old.”
The AWL thinks the puppies may be “a little bit German Shepherd, Chihuahua” and maybe some pit bull mixed in.
Smith said the space for the AWL is tight especially since they have people on their waiting list who want to drop off pets and they try to get through everybody on that list.
“When we have a dump like this, it’s a lot. It’s a lot to take in financially, it’s a lot on our staff and it means all those people who did things the right way are waiting longer, just because someone didn’t call us,” Smith stated.
As for the condition of the puppies, she said in general they’re OK and better than what one would expect. They had fleas and some ticks were found. The puppies needed general basic veterinarian care and were super hungry.
After posting on the AWL Facebook page that they needed puppy food, Smith said, “The response has been amazing. We have so much puppy food, so much canned puppy food. Now today, we just posted at 2 o’clock, our next need is going to be vet care. So, their vet care - they obviously had their first vaccines here. They’ll have Bordetella. They get microchipped. They get fixed before they leave our care. They get heartworm, flea and tick preventatives before they leave our care. And all of that’s of age - at certain ages they get certain things.”
With all of that, Smith said they estimated it’s going to cost around $5,500 for all the puppies in the AWL’s care.
“Everyone’s focusing in on these 14 we just took in, but we have more puppies. So total in our care, we have 22 puppies,” she said. “So it’s a big jump (going from eight to 22 puppies). So we have a lot and our needs right now are to pay for their medical care, and we put that out so if people would be willing to donate toward that. The food response has been great, we have plenty to get them through until adoption.”
People can start checking for the puppies to be available for adoption at the end of June.
To adopt a pet from the AWL, there’s an application process so the puppies, dogs, kittens and cats can end up in great homes.
“Then there’s an $180 adoption fee. The $180 may scare some people, but you’re not going to go get a puppy for free and then if you were to take them to the vet, you’re not going to get it any cheaper,” Smith said.
Besides the 22 puppies and about 60 adult dogs, Smith said the AWL had to close its intake on its cats and kittens currently. Cats and kittens number around 250, with about 60 of those in foster care, according to Brooke Lyon, AWL adoption specialist.
“We have an overflow area that we do not like to use, and we are using it and we are trying our best to get them out. We definitely could use some help with our kittens,” Smith said. “If people could hold on to the strays that they find - I know that’s a big ask but we just don’t have the room and while money is always a thing we think about, quality of care is something we need to think about and if we take them all in, we’re not giving them the quality of care that they deserve.”
She encouraged people to spay and neuter their animals. AWL doesn’t spay or neuter animals themselves, but she said they will give people resources to help stop the breeding of cats “because that’s really the big thing we struggle with in Kosciusko County.”
Some of the felines AWL has are special needs. One cat, Dora, is blind but Smith said it doesn’t affect her.
Even if a person can’t own a dog or cat, Smith encouraged people to come out to the shelter and spend time with them as they need that attention.
“As much as we’re asking for the funds for our puppies for quality of care, there are some cats over there that need medical care as well, that we’re trying to raise money for,” said Jordyn Walker, canine lab tech.
Smith said the AWL has a Hope Fund that people can give to in order to help pay for the animals’ medical expenses.
“We’re always appreciative. That is always needed,” she stated.
Lyon reminded everyone that the AWL is a nonprofit organization.
“We spend more on these animals than what we get. Every dime that is donated matters to these animals,” Smith said.
For more information about the AWL, visit their Facebook page under Animal Welfare League of Kosciusko County, Instagram page at awl_warsaw, tiktok page @awl_warsaw_ or website at https://awlwarsaw.com/
