A Vilonia woman has spent weeks caring for nearly 20 abandoned dogs that were found behind her property, and while they have been getting stronger and healthier, she has been waiting for others to come and adopt them.
Linda Stafford said she realized that her neighbors who she did not know had moved and left their dogs, which included a pregnant mother and many puppies. The dogs had been malnourished, and some had wounds and marks around their faces. Stafford did not know what to do.
“I started calling everyone I could,” she said. “When I called Pulaski County Humane Society, they said they were filled up.”
Stafford also called the Faulkner County Sheriff’s Department, but they were unable to help either.
“They threw their hands up and said there was nothing they could do unless we had a social security number, birth date and an address where these people moved to,” Stafford said. Her daughter called KARK in Little Rock in order to get some attention on the matter. When people heard about the account, however, they didn’t know how to contact her.
“There was one angel, I like to call her an angel, she found me on Google, and came and brought a huge bag of food and took one of the puppies that needed medical assistance to the hospital,” Stafford said. “These puppies look a whole lot healthier now than a few weeks ago.”
Stafford got more help Friday when volunteer medical personnel came to vaccinate the group. The mother and all puppies got much needed medical care, including shots and flea and tick medicine. Shirley Jarman with the Faulkner County Humane Society, said as the dogs get healthier in the next few weeks, they will be spayed and neutered. The mother, however, is still pregnant, so more dogs will be on their way.
Representatives from the rescue group CARE also helped out Friday, taking eight of the puppies to be checked out for any medical problems. The mother will be looked at by the group early next week.
Jarman said that instances like this point to the need for animal control in Faulkner County, an issue that is still in the workshop phase among several justices of the peace. Stafford, however, is more concerned with animal cruelty laws that do not get enforced.
“I mean, they pass these laws about being cruel to animals, but you never see any law people do anything about it,” she said. “You might as well tear up the law and throw it away, they don’t ever do anything about it.”
What Stafford is looking for now is good homes for the dogs.
“There has been one adoption,” she said. “But we really need more people to give these dogs homes. They are sweet and loving, and they need to be cared for.”
To find out more about adopting one or more of the dogs, please contact the Faulkner County Humane Society at fixingfaulknercounty@gmail.com.