County has to add new 'puppy line' for callers
By Steve Herring
Published in News on February 10, 2009 1:46 PM
Wayne County Animal Control has added an additional phone line at the county animal shelter on Clingman Street to handle the heavy volume of calls from people inquiring about dogs seized in a Friday morning raid west of Mount Olive.
Dubbed the "puppy line," the additional line will help ensure that anyone calling the shelter, either about the dogs or other business, will be able to get through, said county spokesperson Barbara Arntsen.
"We are getting a lot of calls from people who want to adopt the animals. We are getting calls from all over the place," she said.
Along with those are calls from people who want to know what they can do to help. They are being told that the best way is by making donations to the county's Humane Society or to the Humane Society of the United States.
The county also is receiving calls from people who have bought puppies from the kennel without realizing it was a "puppy mill," she said.
Approximately 300 adult dogs and puppies were taken by the county last Friday from Thornton Kennels on Westbrook Church Road in southwestern Wayne County near the Sampson County line.
The animals are being sheltered at the Wayne County fairgrounds in an area closed to the public.
Whether or not the animals can be adopted out hinges on the outcome of a hearing today on a permanent injunction against the kennel owner, Virginia Thornton.