Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Shelter takes in more homeless animals

Organization helps Humane Society rescue 52 dogs from Jerome house

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By KATHERINE WUTZ
Express Staff Writer

From left, Animal Shelter of the Wood River Valley volunteer Connie Koonce, shelter Manager Robin Potts and volunteer Lynn Fama wrangle German wirehaired pointer Abrianna, Pomeranian-Chihuahua mix Mickey and Newfoundland-border collie mix Max. Mickey and Max are new arrivals from Boise, sent to help allow a Boise shelter to take in 54 animals from a house in Jerome last week; Abrianna was rescued from that home. Shelter staff said she would need a lengthy recovery period before being offered for adoption. Photo by Willy Cook

Twelve more shelter dogs will have the chance to find forever homes in the Wood River Valley, after the Animal Shelter of the Wood River Valley agreed to help with a rescue in Jerome by taking adoptable pets from the Idaho Humane Society’s Boise Shelter.

Nadia Novik, the shelter’s veterinary technician, said Friday that the animal shelter near Hailey agreed to take the dogs from the Idaho Humane Society’s shelter to create space for the 54 animals seized from a Jerome house last week. 

“They were responsible for removing 52 dogs and two cats from a home in Jerome,” Novik said. “In order for the seizure to happen successfully, they had to take all of the animals.”

Novik and local shelter staff went to Boise and chose dogs they considered adoptable but that had not yet been put up for adoption at the Boise shelter. Novik said that, as usual, the local shelter chose dogs that were on the larger side and active, which are easier to adopt out.

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“In order for the seizure to happen successfully, they had to take all of the animals.”
Nadia Novik
Animal Shelter of the Wood River Valley

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“This valley being as active as it is, people want dogs that can be active,” Novik said. “Most people are interested in big dogs that can be outside with them.”

Eleven of the 12 dogs are healthy—including a Newfoundland mix, a Lab mix and a few hounds—but Novik said the shelter also received a German wirehaired pointer from the Idaho Humane Society that had been seized from the home in Jerome.

Novik said the dog was emaciated and needs serious rehabilitation before she will be able to go into a home. According to Hannah Parpart, spokeswoman for the Idaho Humane Society, the dogs seized were in terrible health—they had been living in a house that was full of feces, urine and trash with no access to the outdoors. 

“There were a lot of eye infections, a lot of skin infections, a lot of wounds from fights,” she said. “They were just very fearful and lacked human contact.”

Parpart said the ages of the dogs ranged from 5-week-old puppies to 9-year-old senior dogs—many of whom were related, she said, apparently the offspring of a herding dog and a smaller dog that had been taken in by the owner and allowed to breed.

Four of the dogs found on site were euthanized immediately, Parpart said, due to the fact that they would not even allow the owner to touch them and were intensely averse to human contact.

The dogs will undergo rehabilitation and diet management at the Idaho Humane Society before they can be put up for adoption. Parpart said a handful of the dogs are already available, but the others may take longer.

For more information, visit www.animalshelterwrv.org or idahohumanesociety.org.

Shelter Hours
The shelter, located on Croy Canyon Road west of Hailey, is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, and from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

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Kate Wutz: kwutz@mtexpress.com

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