Fosters urgently needed after 35 dogs rescued
While responding to a medical emergency in Medford last Thursday that resulted in the death of a resident in the home, officials also found at least 35 dogs in need of care, Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank said Friday.
Anderson County Animal Care and Control was sent to the scene, where 16 of the dogs were immediately taken into care and transported to the county animal shelter.
The dogs ranged in age from puppies as young as a week to adult, according to shelter director Damon McKenna.
As the shelter was already over capacity, calls went out immediately looking for foster volunteers to help take care of the rescued dogs.
The shelter posted on its Facebook page Friday that “The 16 dogs pulled from the property are now at Humane Society of Jefferson County, TN. More from that property will be brought into the shelter soon.”
Animal Control officers picked up 15 more dogs Monday afternoon, McKenna said, but he added that “there are at least another 20 dogs inside.”
He said the team plans to return to the residence later this week to get more of the animals.
“The owners willingly have surrendered all the dogs,” McKenna said.
But the shelter has only 12 kennels, and already has more dogs than it can keep for very long.
Fosters are urgently needed, he said.
“If you have ever thought about adopting, fostering, or volunteering, this is the moment,” McKenna said.
Construction is underway on a new, much-larger county animal shelter, but it’s not expected to open for about a year.
“I truly appreciate our animal control and shelter team for working so hard to take care of these sweet animals, especially in the middle of the night for this particular case,” Mayor Frank said Monday afternoon.
“I’m also so thankful for the partners who help in a situation like this, from agency partners to citizens willing to foster, to the great folks at Jefferson County Humane Society,” she said.
“This particular case highlights the need for a shelter with more capacity and better quarantine separation.
“We are truly looking forward to the new space where we’ll be able to handle emergency situations like this, as well as meeting the daily needs of citizens.”
Anyone willing to foster a shelter animal is asked to contact the Anderson County Animal Shelter via Facebook Messenger or call the shelter at 865-264-6315 and leave a message.
The team will respond to inquiries as soon as possible.
