Shelter seeks homes for dogs after picking up 43 in two weeks

FARMINGTON – Wanted: Home for dogs.

Through a series of unrelated transfers and legal proceedings, the Franklin County Animal Shelter is now home to 42 dogs. That’s not counting a German Shepherd, who is pregnant.

“I don’t know how many puppies she’s going to have,” FCAS Executive Director Heidi Jordan said Thursday afternoon.

The shelter’s dog population had dwindled to pretty much zero, to a point where shelter officials arranged to have a dozen rescue dogs transferred from Arkansas.

On July 16, however, four individuals appeared in Franklin County District Court for initial appearances on trafficking charges associated with an alleged Methamphetamine laboratory that was being run out of a Phillips residence. In court, two of the defendants were asked what they wanted to do with the 13 dogs, nine of them puppies, that had been living in the residence. The defendants opted to sign ownership of the dogs over to the shelter, so they could be put up for adoption, rather than have FCAS board the animals at the cost of $10 per dog per day.

That gave Jordan and her staff 13 dogs, one of them pregnant, to manage. Yesterday, the state transferred more dogs, many of them emaciated, to FCAS. The dogs, Jordan said, were the products of a pipeline of puppies that connected to the coast of Maine. Many of the 18 dogs were dangerously thin and in poor health.

“They clearly weren’t well taken care of,” Jordan said. “They’re skin and bones.”

More puppy pipeline dogs might be arriving soon, Jordan isn’t certain. Meanwhile, the previously-arranged Arkansas transfers arrive tomorrow.

“So,” Jordan said, “we have a wide selection of dogs.” The animals were generally small to medium-sized, she noted, ranging from Labradors to Border Collies to mixed breeds, and remarkably well tempered for rescue animals. “They’re very adoptable dogs, which is exciting,” she said.

Applications are being accepted on all of the dogs, although some will go through waiting periods due to travel restrictions or FCAS wanting to improve their health before sending them home. Contact information, including adoption applications, can be found at the FCAS website, located here.

For those wishing to help the shelter with donations, FCAS needs largish blankets for the dogs, as well as the ever-necessary bleach and paper towels. Dog food is also always welcome, with Purina dog or puppy food recommended as the brand of choice.

Additionally, the shelter’s Mother & Son Dance will be held on Aug. 15. at the Titcomb Mountain Lodge. The event, which includes games, prizes and a photo booth, as well as music and dancing, costs $15 for mothers and sons, or $20 for the whole family. All proceeds go toward benefiting the shelter.