Chatham Co. Animal Services investigating after 21 dogs dumped along Garrard Ave.

CHATHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - What would you do if you saw someone in your neighborhood putting an animal out on the side of the road?

What if it turned out to be more than 20 animals?

That’s exactly what one Chatham County man says he witnessed this past Monday.

People that live in this area of Garrard Avenue say that they’re used to people coming to this cul-de-sac and dumping things. However, on Monday, that took a dark turn when one man says somebody came down here and dumped over 20 dogs.

“There were dogs everywhere. Puppies, and they’re small dogs too, they were running around everywhere,” Timothy Brannen said.

Brannen says that he and his sister tried to catch the dogs but there were too many of them to handle.

“They were scared to death. They were running from us, but they kept running back to keep barking.”

Chatham County Police say they were called out and an officer did go there but no police report was filed.

Someone eventually contacted Renegade Paws Rescue who took in the 21 dogs.

“It’s not as rare as you would think. Even if they aren’t dumped all at once, the numbers of dogs being dumped, especially right now when people are really pressed to be able to take care of them, is a really astounding thing,” Cody Shelley said.

Shelley says that in this particular group, there were eight puppies, several of which have Parvo.

Parvo is a very contagious disease in dogs that can be prevented with vaccinations.

However, there is no cure for Parvo and the dogs mostly have to recover on their own. According to the American Kennel Club, it has a very high mortality rate in unvaccinated puppies.

“We don’t know if they have any immunity to fight it off, so right now, besides the puppies that are in the emergency vet fighting for their life, we have multiple dogs, the entire batch, under quarantine to see if they’re going to pop with Parvo as well,” Shelley said.

Shelley says that giving the dogs the care they need will be very expensive for Renegade Paws.

She adds that it’s important to get your dogs fixed and vaccinated- and that if you have an animal you can’t care for, contact a rescue for help.

That’s what Brannen says he wishes the person that dumped these dogs would have done.

”It’s just cruel. How would somebody like it if they got sick and dumped them on the side of the road and left them? It’s just cruel,” Brannen said.

This case is under investigation by Chatham County Animal Services.

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