36 King Charles Spaniels seized by Charlotte animal control quickly find new homes
By opening time on Tuesday, the line at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Animal Care and Control stretched into the parking lot. Many were drawn there for what has become one of the most coveted items during the pandemic: a small dog.
Specifically, the animal shelter had advertised the day before that there were 36 King Charles Spaniels available for adoption — a mix of males and females and colors, ranging from 4 to 15 years old, none of them house-trained.
All the spaniels found new homes by 2 p.m., just three hours after the shelter opened.
“That’s why we’re like, ‘Oh man, if only they were just here for all of the dogs,” said Melissa Knicely, spokeswoman for Animal Care and Control.
There’s always a higher demand for puppies and small breeds, she said. The hounds and pit bulls have a harder time finding homes.
Knicely said 44 King Charles Spaniels were originally seized from a Mint Hill home and taken to the shelter in August. Authorities were alerted to sanitary and code enforcement concerns at the overcrowded home, Knicely said. The dogs had bred with each other, and the home was in such bad condition that officials had to wear respirator masks due to the ammonia in the feces, she said.
Knicely said people in these situations are usually lovers of a breed who “get in over their head and then find that financially they’re not able to take care of the animals. ... The animals are reproducing, and it just becomes a big mess,” she said.
Veterinarians treated the dogs, many of which were underweight, at the shelter and found many of them had heavy flea infestations, skin problems from the fleas and hair loss, Knicely said. All the dogs have been vaccinated and micro-chipped and have appointments to be neutered or spayed, according to Animal Care and Control.
The dogs are “very sweet,” Knicely said. “Sometimes with these types of situations, you’re going to have ones that aren’t well socialized, but that wasn’t the case with this.”
The original owner, who is still awaiting misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty and not giving the dogs rabies shots, surrendered the dogs this week, which made them available for adoption. Out of the 44 dogs taken by the shelter, 36 were adopted and four are on hold for an off-site adoption event.
The owner will keep the remaining four King Charles Spaniels after they’ve been spayed and neutered to prevent them from breeding.
“We will be doing wellness checks with them to make sure that they don’t get themselves in over their heads again,” Knicely said.
This story was originally published September 30, 2020 at 1:38 PM.
