Six dogs were recently found abandoned on the corner of Experimental Road and State Road 29 in Immokalee. The dogs, including two adult females and four puppies, were found huddled around a cardboard box and a bag, likely what they were dumped in, trying to cross the busy highway.
Spay and Neuter Initiative Program (SNIP) founder Tom Kepp said he received a call last Wednesday from a good samaritan who saw the dogs near the highway. Thankfully they were uninjured but the dogs were infested with fleas and worms.
“The little ones are black so you couldn’t see them. But the white ones, they were all covered with fleas, big time, covered with fleas. And they all had tapeworms, and so we immediately went and got tapeworm [treatment] They’re doing good now though,” Kepp said.
The brown dog is the mother of the puppies, while the white female dog has also bonded with the litter, acting as a “co-mom." All of the dogs are now in good health waiting for their "fur-ever" homes.
Kepp is advocating for stronger enforcement against animal abuse. He says SNIP Collier rescues between 150 and 300 animals each year. With Collier County shelters often at capacity, Kepp hopes to ease the burden by adding more space for animals at a new facility being built in Immokalee. The center, which is still raising funds for completion, will serve as both a shelter and a low-cost medical clinic, as well as an educational and community resource center.
"I see strays everywhere. I can only assume a lot of them have been just either abandoned, like people move out and leave them, or some of them are just people not taking care of them, but they're everywhere in Collier County. And so that's why I started doing this 25 years ago," Kepp said.
SNIP Collier is asking anyone with information about who abandoned these animals to contact the Collier County Sheriff’s Office or report it anonymously to Kepp at SNIP. Those interested in fostering or adopting the dogs can apply on SNIP Collier’s website.