PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. — After about 200 dogs were removed from an Interlachen property this week in Putnam County, some of the dogs were adopted quickly Friday.
Under a tall tree, a community in Palatka gathered for a pet adoption event. Some of the dogs up for adoption were rescued from that hoarding case.
Since Wednesday, 208 dogs have been seized from one elderly woman’s home in Interlachen.
"We wanted an older dog, but we were looking at the smaller dogs," Colleen Hollister said.
However, only two hours into Friday’s event, she learned that all 35 dogs there from the hoarding case had been adopted. Lucky for her, the Putnam County Animal Control Services had brought out all of its adoptable shelter dogs to the event too.
Juliann Young is the Putnam County Deputy Administrator. Regarding the bigger shelter dogs, she said: "They were dogs people no longer wanted or were strays, and traditionally they are very hard to find adoptive homes for. But the large public turnout today has given us an opportunity to showcase some of those really sweet large dogs."
Thursday, after learning about the adoption event for the dogs from the Interlachen case, many viewers contacted First Coast News concerned that the dogs were being adopted too quickly. They warned that the dogs needed to be vaccinated and spayed or neutered. So First Coast News those concerns to Putnam County leaders such as Young.
"You can only adopt an animal if you agree and attest that you’re going to make provisions to have that animal spayed and neutered," Young said. "People are selecting an animal they’re interested in. Then they (the dogs) are taken to the vet that’s inside the trailer."
That "trailer" was parked at the event. Inside, was veterinarian Elizabeth Vodevick.
"We've been vaccinating for distemper, Parvo, rabies, and Bordetella. We’ve been giving them broad spectrum intestinal de-wormers. And for many, we’ve been sending home flea medication," she told First Coast News.
Free grooming services were offered as well at the event.
According to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, most of the dogs from the hoarding case -- 170 of them – went to rescue groups around the area. And by the end of the event Friday, 50 dogs total were adopted and 35 of them were from the hoarding case.
As for the shelter dogs, not a single one went back to the shelter. All were adopted, and that means the shelter has no more adoptable dogs under its roof right now.
And Hollister is taking home one of those shelter dogs, who is caramel-colored with big dark eyes.
"She was so sweet and shy. We couldn’t leave her," Hollister said.
Animal Control officers are still retrieving more dogs from the hoarding case on the 10-acre property in Putnam County. Donations of food and supplies are still needed.