WICOMICO COUNTY, Md.- Of the 310 dogs that were rescued from a Wicomico County home last April, about two dozen remain at the Humane Society of Wicomico County. Now, it is time for some of those dogs to find their new homes.
Fifteen of the 24 remaining Pomeranians will soon be available for adoption, with the first five being available Saturday, March 11. Adoption hours start at 11 a.m. But, Aaron Balsamo, the executive director of the Humane Society of Wicomico County, said anyone interested in one of the dogs needs to understand they will be a lot of work.
"It's a long-term investment, especially with a high needs dogs like this," Balsamo said. "I mean, simple things like being house broken. These dogs have never been in a true house environment where someone has taken them outside every couple of hours to go to the bathroom. So, there's a lot of little things like that these dogs won't have."
These remaining dogs were in some of the worst shape after they were rescued. One of the remaining dogs is missing an eye, another only has three legs. These dogs were among the 310 that were rescued from a home on Cooper Road in Eden last April. Police said Robert and Susan Murphy had the dogs living in deplorable conditions on the property and were selling the dogs as part of a puppy mill operation.
Five of the remaining dogs will be available March 11, five more on March 18, and five more on March 26. The remaining nine dogs still need some extra care before they can be adopted.
"There's some that have social issues and things like that," Balsamo said. "So, before they're able to be adopted, we're going to send them to a rescue who's going to be able to give them a little more one on one and personal time."
Also, Balsamo said while the adoption process will begin for the first five dogs on Saturday, if there are a lot of applicants, it will be highly unlikely that one of the dogs goes home with its new family on Saturday. The whole process could take a couple of days.
Robert and Susan Murphy are each facing 96 animal cruelty related charges. Susan Murphy's trial is set for mid-May, while Robert Murphy has his trial schedule for late June, both in Wicomico County Circuit Court.
