If you have a dog but can't care for it, the Animal Humane Society will.
120 labs? Bring them on, society says
February 20, 2008 at 12:50AM
And if you have 120 of them? They'll do that, too.
Last week, the Humane Society's Golden Valley location accepted 49 Labrador retrievers from a rural Wisconsin breeder whose population of labs had gotten out of hand. That's in addition to 26 he dropped off in January, 20 in February and 25 more to come.
The organization won't give out the man's name, said Kathie Johnson, director of animal services. "This isn't a cruelty investigation," she said. "He came to us for help, and we want to encourage that."
Dogs often can overwhelm their breeders, Johnson said, but "a breeder coming to us and asking for assistance -- that's very uncommon."
The influx has strained the Humane Society's resources, but the organization built its Golden Valley facility to handle such situations. Generally, the organization accepts 50 to 60 animals a day.
The Humane Society will spay or neuter, vaccinate, de-worm and micro-chip each lab and then offer it for adoption. New dog owners pay an average of $200 to $300 per dog, which covers only a portion of the costs borne by the society. Nine of the most recent bunch of labs are puppies; the rest are at least a year old, and there's a mix of black, chocolate and yellow labs.
Although labs aren't the most popular breed of dogs at the moment, this particular group has two advantages, Johnson said:
"These labs tend to be on the smaller side. And the situation has gotten some media attention.
"When that happens, so many people will open their homes."
For details, call 763-489-2201.
Jenna Ross • 612-673-7168
