WASHINGTON COUNTY, Okla. — The Washington County SPCA is dealing with an overcrowded shelter after a couple dumped seven dogs at the shelter after hours.
Tonya Pete, the CEO at the shelter, said spring is peak time for puppies and kittens.
“We just want people to know not to dump your animals, there is a right way,” she said.
On Monday, security video from the shelter caught a couple in a red truck driving to the back of the shelter and dumping a crate of dogs in the back. Pete said the dumping happened after the shelter had closed for the day.
“They had already had it planned out and knew they were going to dump some animals and just the kind of dumped the crate, we saw there was a mom and she had six puppies,” she said.
The shelter said when they found the puppies only 25 minutes after they were left, all seven dogs were healthy.
“If it had been summer, it would have been a lot worse, because those little crates are like a hot box you know, the sun sits on them and especially with all the puppies in there, so it could’ve turn dangerous really fast,” she said.
Pete said the shelter has been over capacity for over two years. She said having to take in seven dogs with no notice is hard.
“The biggest concern is people dumping animals and us not having a kennel or a space for them and having to make a difficult decision about another animal and so that’s just not fair to the other animals and it’s not fair to the employees that have to make decisions,” she said.
Pete said although the dogs were left at a shelter, it’s still dangerous and illegal.
“People think, ‘well, you are just a shelter, that’s what you are supposed to do,’ and that is true, we are shelter, but we also run on donations so we are limited on what we can do,” she said.
Right now, the sheriff’s office is investigating the dumping. Pete said the department has received numerous tips on the suspect.
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