Poor Dogs - Can anybody help them??

Several Sick Dogs Dumped On Couch Near Road

UPDATED: 9:10 am EST January 17, 2006

ATHERTON, Mo. -- Some Missouri residents are wondering who was careless enough to abandon seven dogs along a roadside in northeast Jackson County, Mo.

Neighbors found the dogs Sunday morning on a couch along an Atherton road and near some railroad tracks. The dogs were sick and shivering.

"Nobody in these parts likes to see animals mistreated at all," neighbor Jerry Green said. "It's not right. Anyone who would treat an animal like that would probably do the same to kids."

"They have no place to go -- it just ain't right," neighbor Richard Miller said. "We've called Animal Control. Sheriff's deputies finally came out and made a report on them."

The dogs were scratching themselves so much that they were bleeding. The animals have little fur and rely on each other to keep warm. Neighbors found a short-term solution by loading the dogs into a truck and taking them to a friend's house, where they can stay for a while.

"That'll at least keep them out of the wind," one neighbor said.

"They got to get in or they'll die," a resident said.

The Jackson County Sheriff's Office didn't send anyone out for the dogs Monday because of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Neighbors hope more can be done for the dogs later this week.

"Somebody who'd do this ought to be put in jail," a neighbor said.

Those interested in helping the dogs can contact the Sheriff's Department at (816) 524-4302 ext. 224.