Floyd County officials removed 41 dogs from a residence in the 500 block of Old Corydon Ridge Road Tuesday morning.
The Health Department ordered the dogs be seized after someone was bitten by one of the animals over the weekend.
The property is owned by Katherine Fraze who runs a pet adoption operation on her land which includes a trailer and several wooded acres. The dogs run free on the property.
Floyd County Health Officer Dr. Tom Harris said a person who was interested in adopting one of the dogs was bitten on the property. He said the dogs will have to be quarantined for 10 more days and are currently being housed at the New Albany-Floyd County Animal Shelter.
Harris said with any dog bite, a dog has to be quarantined and observed to make sure it doesn’t have rabies or other diseases. Since there was no way to confine the dogs on the property, they had to be taken to the Animal Shelter. Normally, a homeowner will quarantine their dog following a bite and the dog will be released after that period ends, Harris said.
However, the future of these animals is still uncertain.
“There are other issues here besides the seizure of the animals,” Harris said.
Harris called Fraze’s living conditions “appalling.” He said there was no running water or heat, and the homemade septic system was overflowing. He said she has 15 days to improve the conditions, or the Health Department will have to condemn the trailer.
Harris said the conditions, and the large number of dogs running loose, make it unsafe for people to visit the property.
“It’s a public safety issue,” he said. “You are inviting people out to your property to adopt animals, and you are putting them at risk.”
Since the dogs run loose, Harris said there is a greater chance of them coming in contact with wild animals who may be carrying diseases.
Animal Shelter Director David Hall said the dogs “all appear to be well cared for and not underweight.” He said the problem is the environment they live in.
Hall also said it will be extremely difficult for him to put the dogs up for adoption since one of them has already bitten someone. He said authorities do not know which dog was involved in the incident, so that would pose a liability issue.
Hall said the shelter has had to make room for the 41 dogs. He said no decision will be made about their future until the Health Department releases them.
He said it would have been helpful if Fraze had some kind of identification on the dogs or had them microchipped.
Harris called Tuesday’s operation a success.
“Local agencies were working together to corral 41 animals and do the right thing,” he said. “It was a great example of how agencies work together.”
Fraze did not want to discuss the issue Tuesday until she spoke with her attorney.
Floyd County
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January 12, 2010
Dogs seized from Floyd Co. property
Animals taken following weekend incident
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