One recent day this summer when the heat index was 106, Sharon Stone, Operations Manager for In Defense of Animals’ Hope Animal Sanctuary was feeding two feral dogs when she heard a woman calling out to her from further down the road.  She wanted  Sharon to stop by her house once she was finished feeding the feral dogs. Upon Sharon’s arrival at the house,  the woman said she had “some puppies” she “could not afford to feed.”  Following the woman to the back of the house into an overgrown yard, Sharon saw three small puppies.  Covered in fleas and ticks, the three babies and their mother came running out to meet them.

The woman wanted to keep one of the puppies,  but Sharon convinced her to allow us to take all three in order to find them great homes.  She explained that she wanted to keep the mother dog,  so we began to talk to her about the benefits of spaying her.  Much to our delight, she was very interested in spaying her dog since she realized she could not care for more than one dog.  We gave her information on how to obtain a low cost spay/neuter voucher and then had a conversation about flea control as well as heartworm prevention.  She was very grateful for our help and was happy that the puppies she had been caring for would all have families of their own!

The puppies were taken to our sanctuary where they had their first baths ever, vaccinations and worming medications.  Soon, they will be leaving us as they head  to new lives with wonderful, loving families while their mother, who will be spayed later in August, will never have to worry about her pups again.

There are thousands of unwanted and unplanned puppies and dogs in Mississippi.  Your donations to In Defense of Animals will help us save other babies just like one of these three pictured here!

www.idausa.org/donate