Saturday, August 29, 2009

Posting again

I have been negligent in posting to the blog. In fact, it's been too long since I've posted. So I decided that I needed to become active on this site and put up some information.

The incident with the surrender of about 50 Labradors made me realize how important it is for breeders to know when they are over their head. The man who surrendered these dogs was a former President of the Hoosier Labrador Retriever Club. He was a respected Labrador breeder. But apparently he fell on hard times and did not reach out for help when it became clear that he could no longer give quality care to his dogs.

I know that breeding and showing dogs is an expensive hobby. And having 50 dogs to feed, vet, and care for can be very expensive. It's well for every breeder to assess whether of not they have the time and money to care for the animals that they own.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Many labs surrended at shelter in Indiana

The Morgan County Humane Society got an unexpected delivery and they desperately need your help. A breeder who fell on financial hard times had to get rid of more than 40 dogs and puppies.

Even before you step inside in the Morgan County Humane Society, you can hear dogs barking.

"Our capacity is fairly small compared to some shelters and to have this much come in in one day," said Matthew McPherson with the Morgan County Humane Society.

The shelter off West Mitchell Street in Martinsville is normally busy with activity, but they're now overwhelmed after getting such a large animal drop off.

"Our typical capacity is about 45 dogs and puppies total and in just one run we had picked up 48 dogs," McPherson said.

Last week, Morgan County deputies brought 38 adult labs, 10 puppies, a cat and two quail to the shelter. They rescued each one from the same place.

"It's pretty sad, it makes you want to help it makes you want to come and get one," Mary Cramblett of Indianapolis said.

Officials say the owner of the animals fell on financial hard times and did not know where to turn to get help.

"Once they are in good sound health, then we would be able to adopt them out to the public," McPherson explained.

According to officials at the Humane Society, when the puppies arrived last week they were emaciated, flee-infested and malnourished. But now they are full of energy and they've bounced back.

"The conditions when we got them in were just completely horrible," McPherson said.

The adult labs are separated from the puppies, one of them even showed signs of malnutrition.

"Some of them were as low as 30 pounds for an adult lab," said McPherson.

Now officials are working to get the labs back in shape. They're also depending on their volunteers and dog lovers to help find them good homes.

"All the animals that are here; it's not there fault that they are here and it's people that do things that they shouldn't be doing and it's up to who ever can help out to come out and help out," Chris Beasley of Morgantown said.

The Morgan County Humane Society is looking for foster homes for the Labrador Retrievers. They are also in need of monetary and food donations. If you would like to help you can contact the shelter at 765-349-9177.

You can also go to the Morgan County Humane Society web site and make a donation via Pay Pal. These labs are in need of a lot of attention.