CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – A poodle mix named Teddy was left outside with little to no food or water for months. His owners had apparently fallen on hard times, and they needed to surrender him. Mikaela Lambert, owner of Mikaela’s Mutt Motel, said Teddy was in “one of the worst conditions we have ever seen.” His overgrown and matted fur hid that he was emaciated.
“You could wrap your hand around each of his hip bones, you could feel each vertebrae in his spine. You could feel every rib. He was extremely overgrown and matted,” Lambert told Clarksville Now.
At the veterinarian’s office, they discovered Teddy’s heart was failing due to starvation. He had developed anemia, hookworms, a double ear infection, a grade 3 heart murmur and tachycardia. Had Teddy not been surrendered by his owners, he likely would have died.
Many others across Montgomery and Stewart counties are dumped or abandoned, and the volunteer-led rescues in rural areas say the problem is getting worse. Owners are turning their dogs and cats loose to fend for themselves, and some of the hot spots for dumping are closer than many realize.
Rise of local pet dumping
As Clarksville’s economy booms and population fluctuates, and with hundreds of military families moving in and out every year, many dogs and cats are left behind.
The sudden boom in pet dumping is due in large part to the aftereffects of COVID-19. Spaying and neutering weren’t deemed essential services during the pandemic, so the pet population spiked. Now, at many clinics, there is a three- to six-month waiting list for spay and neuter services.
“The same thing is happening in Dover,” said Brian Cadwallader, a worker at Sagley’s Biker Bully Farm in the city 30 miles west of Clarksville. “This used to be an old country town. But more people are coming here retiring out Nashville, military out of Clarksville – we’re growing. They’re bringing in animals, they’re getting rid of animals; spay and neuter is the biggest thing.
“Many dogs have become trends,” Cadwallader told Clarksville Now. “Right now, it’s pit bulls. It’s about to be Malinois and German shepherds. They’re going to get bred like crazy. Those are high-energy dogs, and not all dogs are couch potatoes.”
Julie Milliken with Stewart County Faithful Friends Animal Rescue said more than half of their intakes are results of pet dumping and abandonment. The other half are surrenders and severely injured animals whose owners can’t take care of them.
In many cases, abandoning or dumping a pet is a death sentence. Dogs and cats left to fend for themselves experience hunger, thirst, injury and disease. They are also frightened and confused since the owner they trusted and relied on has abandoned them alone in a strange location.
In this area, pets have been discovered in garbage cans, on highways and tethered to park benches. They are commonly found at Land Between the Lakes, Dyers Creek and on rural county roads.
Milliken and the team at Faithful Friends said they’ve seen abandoned pets hit by cars, poisoned and shot.
Stiff fines and jail time
Cadwallader said the best way to stop pet dumping is to enforce the laws and the legal consequences. “Charge them,” he said. “There’s got to be a stiff fine, some kind of consequence, otherwise, people are going to keep doing it. … There’s got to be some kind of punishment.”
In Montgomery County, illegal dumping carries a $500 fine for each offense. Similarly, Stewart County has a law prohibiting pet dumping.
Cadwallader and Tinsley both told Clarksville Now that recently, law enforcement appeared to be actively enforcing these laws.
“Police are getting better,” Tinsley said. “I had to go to court a couple weeks ago over one of them (a starvation case) and with my testimony, we got it bound over to the grand jury.”
MORE: Click here to see the Pets of the Week in need of adoption from local rescues
Deceased owners
Not all intakes are there because of owner neglect.
“We got a call from the (Stewart County) Sheriff’s Office saying they needed our help with an aggressive dog; we weren’t told much else besides that,” Cadwell said.
Upon arriving at the home, Caldwell was shocked to find that not only was this “aggressive dog” a tiny Pomeranian, but the faithful dog was guarding its deceased owner, growling and nipping at anyone who came near. He said stories like this are surprisingly common.
Rita Tinsley, a veterinarian for Stewart County Vet Clinic, told Clarksville Now one of the harsher stories she’s witnessed was a dog named Shemp whose elderly owner had suddenly passed. Tinsley said Shemp was not a social dog when he came into the clinic, and the elderly man had trained him using code words.
“Not a very adoptable dog because he could be aggressive,” Tinsley said. “I buddied up to him, learned all of his code words, and so we were manageable to him. But as far adopting him, it was awkward.”
Shemp stayed unadopted at Faithful Friends for several months, until one day a woman came in the clinic with her elderly father to find him a dog. When Shemp was brought out, he instantly went to the man’s side and began to love on him. The two clicked, and Shemp was welcomed to his new home.
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