MORRISTOWN, Tenn. — Seventeen chihuahuas that were found in a Hamblen County storage unit in December are doing well nearly a month later.
Morristown Hamblen Humane Society said it was helping to care for them and is currently preparing those animals for adoption.
The shelter is still looking into who left the dogs in the storage unit and why. Some of the dogs were so young that their eyes hadn't opened yet.
Anyone with information about the dogs and why they were in a storage unit should reach out to Hamblen County Animal Control at 423-438-7981.
Stephanie Garza, the executive director of the Morristown Hamblen Humane Society, said Hamblen County Animal Control responded to a call on Dec. 10 about the dogs. She said after they checked it out, they called the humane society to come in and help.
According to a post on social media, the dogs were taken in by a foster home but the humane society was working to provide everything needed to care for them.
"Those animals haven't probably had much interaction with people, so being able to enrich them so that they when they are available for adoption, they're ready to go," said Garza. "That helps a lot. And fostering is really the number one thing that we lack right now. When we do get big cases like this, this was once in a lifetime probably for us to have someone take all 17."
Anyone who wants to donate to the Morristown Hamblen Humane Society should reach out by calling 423-581-1494, or by donating online. Donations can also be made in person or by mail at 5251 E. Morris Blvd in Morristown.
"It all goes to veterinary care," said Garza. "It goes to any supplies. We need specialty foods, we need bedding, anything that people can donate, you know — puppy pads, just those cheap blankets that you know can be thrown away if they're damaged. Crates so that we can, you know, transport the animals really helps a lot."
Garza said without the help of the community, no one at the shelter would be able to do their job.
"It's with the community that really helps us going on. Without their support, it's really hard to handle not only those cases but the animals that we have in shelter," said Garza.
Sidney Kropidlowski, the owner of Sidney's Bark 'N Bath in Morristown, said she's helped the humane society with other cruelty cases before and she loves giving back to the shelter and animals.
"It's extremely rewarding, helping out animals that have been treated badly," said Kropidlowski. "They're obviously very scared and not very trusting of people if they haven't been treated well. But in past cruelty cases that I've helped the animals, the animals just seem so grateful, and they understand that you're trying to help them. And animals communicate through energy that you're giving and so they really respond to people that they know are trying to help them."