Puppies found abandoned in wire cage on side of rural Clinton County road

Five puppies are in the care of Clinton County Animal Control after being found abandoned in a wire cage on the side of a rural road south of Carlyle Wednesday.

Animal control officials say they received the call at 2:30 p.m. and arrived to find the pitbull-mix puppies, about 8-week-old, stuffed in the crate and were infested with worms. They had not received distemper vaccinations — or “puppy shots” — necessary for a young animal’s health.

“It’s just another example of irresponsible pet ownership,” said Tony Petrea, animal control warden for Clinton County.

Petrea said animal abandonment has become a “huge problem” and has received “six to seven” calls in the past month alone. He says animal control is in contact with law enforcement.

Petrea says he believes he knows who abandoned the puppies, but proving animal abandonment is often too difficult to prosecute.

“We investigate as much as we can and try to find whatever justice we can in the situation. But it’s a ‘he-said she-said’ and it’s really hard to prove without someone seeing or taking photos of it,” he said. “The guy who did it laughed at me because he knew I couldn’t prove it.”

Petrea said he convinced the person to sign an animal release form, allowing the county to put the puppies up for adoption sooner.

Making them healthy enough will take time, though, he said.

“It’s going to take a while to get them to a healthy enough weight to re-home them,” Petrea said, “They’re wormy, never had puppy shots. Those are costs on the county and the taxpayer, not including the cost of food and cleaning their kennels.”

Clinton County Animal Control can be reached at (618) 594-4483.