By Douglass Huxley, The Parkersburg News and Sentinel
PARKERSBURG, W.Va. — The Parkersburg Humane Society is working to care for and rehome 146 dogs after they were removed from a residence Wednesday evening.
“I would like to say, I don’t believe it was at all intentional,” Gary McIntyre, executive director of the shelter, said. “It’s just unfortunate that none of the animals were spayed or neutered.”
McIntyre said humane officers handle complaints and investigate any cases of potential cruelty, neglect, abuse or just to do welfare checks. He said two officers responded to a request for a check at a residence near City Park. He said the officer initially believed there might have been 30-40 animals in the household and requested backup to help transport them to the shelter.
“So we sent a couple of staff, and the van, and loaded up a bunch of crates, thinking, we’re going to get 30 dogs in,” McIntyre said. “Shortly after the staff got there, the 30 became 40. The 40 went to 50, and it kept going up to 60. And finally, by the end of the night, when the last load got here at almost 7 (p.m.), there were 146.”
McIntyre said the ages of the dogs ranged from a few days old to around 10 years of age. He said many of the dogs appeared to have never been outside the home, as they seemed disoriented when they were brought out into daylight. He said the shelter did not find any serious medical conditions among the dogs initially, but they did treat them for parasites and administer their initial vaccinations. He also said the potential for outbreaks of parvovirus and kennel cough was a concern, as the dogs had not been exposed to other animals and could quickly spread illness in the shelter environment, but no signs of the diseases were found.
