After six young dogs were abandoned at the Animal Welfare League of Montgomery County in the middle of the night, the community came together to help bring them all to safety.
Now, two weeks later, the dogs are healthy, clean and getting ready to find new homes.
The six dogs, ranging in age from 6 months to 2 years old, were dropped off at the shelter around midnight, according to a report from a Lakeside Book Company employee who witnessed the animals being abandoned.
Shelter employees arrived early the next morning after receiving a report that four dogs were in the AWL parking lot. The shelter was quickly able to contain some of the frightened animals, but it soon became clear that there were more dogs left behind.
“What ensued was a race to capture all six dogs amid the storms,” AWL board member Gwynn Wills said. “Many in the community joined in the search and rescue, but mostly, the dedication and relentless pursuit by the AWL staff was nothing short of heroic.”
“Thankfully, we were able to quickly get the first three contained,” shelter manager Abbie Horn said.
One of the dogs ran into the shelter’s dog runs while another took off onto the trail. Horn said the dogs were clearly terrified, prompting the shelter to set live traps and ask the public to report any sightings of the lost dogs.
By the end of the first day, four dogs had been safely contained. The remaining two were still missing as heavy storms moved through the area.
“It was terrible because we all had to go home knowing that they were going to be in the rain and in the storm,” Horn said.
But community members continued watching for the dogs and reporting sightings to the shelter.
The next morning, a Park and Recreation Department employee called after spotting one of the remaining dogs. Horn drove to the area and found the dog hiding underneath the employee’s vehicle.
“I just got really small and called over to it and it walked straight to me,” Horn said.
The final dog was found the following day after making its way into the yard of an AWL board member near the shelter. With help from the homeowner and animal control officers, the last dog was safely captured.
The dogs were not in good condition when they arrived. Horn said all six were severely infected with fleas, anemic and dirty, with flea residue staining their fur and some of their coats matted.
But after a lot of care, the dogs are now healthy, happy and beginning to come out of their shells.
“They’re a little bit skittish, but they’re so cute and sweet,” Horn said. “It takes a little bit for them to come around.”
Horn said there is no investigation into who abandoned the dogs, and while dumping animals is never the right answer, she believes the person who left them at the shelter may have been trying to get them help.
“When situations like that happen for us, the thing that we are most concerned about is their safety and getting them safe, rather than pointing fingers at somebody or shaming somebody for doing it,” Horn said. “Because you’ve got to think that they’re trying, in their own way, they’re trying to do the right thing, bring them to the shelter to where they were going to get help.”
Horn said the shelter would rather focus its attention on the dogs and their futures.
“If you get the public really riled up about something, it’s a really vicious cycle of negativity,” she said. “Whereas we’re trying to do something positive for our community and make a difference in their lives.”
The AWL began accepting foster-to-adopt applications for the dogs over the weekend. Horn said the shelter will carefully review applications and match each dog with the right home rather than placing them on a first-come, first-served basis.
