When puppies get adopted, mom needs a home too

Lilly is not much older than a puppy.

But about two months ago, the rescued pit bull had a litter of her own. Now they’re in the care of a local veterinarian, thanks to the Carbon County Animal Shelter.

Adopting the puppies will be no problem when they are ready in the coming weeks, but shelter Manager Tom Connors wants to make sure that Lilly finds a home too.

“The family was going to bring her into the shelter. She does have the pups she’s dealing with, and we want to make sure she gets a great home,” Connors said. “She is super friendly.”

After her owner died, a relative decided that Lilly was too much to care for, and dropped her at the animal shelter in Nesquehoning. But Connors said the relative wanted to keep the six puppies that were born about seven weeks ago.

Ideally, puppies aren’t supposed to be separated from their mother until eight weeks after they’re born. So Connors said he wouldn’t take the mother without the puppies.

That’s where St. Francis Animal Hospital and Dr. Dawn Mriss came in. The animal shelter already has 18 dogs, so Connors couldn’t handle the puppies himself. Mriss and her staff have stepped up to shelter the puppies, and Lilly, until they’re ready for adoption. That should be in less than two weeks.

Lilly is kind and docile. Mriss says she’s giving, not aggressive, with her puppies. She loves to be held and have her head rubbed. With the puppies getting all the attention, she loves any time she can get with a human.

A donor has paid to have Lilly spayed and vaccinated for her new owner. She will be spayed as soon as the puppies are weaned.

The puppies will have to wait until they’re six months old before they can be fixed.

Dr. Mriss has been an ally of the animal shelter for more than a decade. Through St. Francis and Lehighton Animal Hospital, she provides the vaccinations and medical care for the animals who are brought into the shelter. During a recent project at the animal shelter, Mriss found accommodations for all the animals at the shelter.

“If there’s any kind of problems we vaccinate them, get them ready for adoption, make sure we’re not sending a sick animal home,” Mriss said.

Before Lilly and her pups, their most recent work together was with a lost dog that was found wandering in Weatherly. It was so matted that they think it was wandering for some time before it was found.

And now they’re working to find Lilly a home.

“I would be lost without them, the Lehighton animal hospital, St. Francis, and the whole team. ” Connors said.

It’s an unfortunate reality that dogs like Lilly are often forgotten after they give birth to their puppies. Connors said that owners will breed their dogs, sell the puppies for as little as $20, and neglect the mother.

“They look at it like fast cash,” Connors said. “That’s how a lot of the female pits end up in here.”

It wasn’t too long ago that Lilly was a puppy just like that. Connors said this is a good lesson about why owners should have their animals spayed and neutered.

“We didn’t need six puppies, we have plenty of dogs at the shelter,” he said.

If you’re interested in helping Lilly, or making a donation to the animal shelter, call 570-325-4828.