Abandonment is becoming a huge problem in McIntosh County and if stricter laws aren’t enforced and money can’t be found for animal control within the city and within the county, residents are looking at more and more heartbreaking situations like this past Easter Sunday when six pups where abandoned outside the West Eufaula Indian Baptist Church.

When the city was called concerned Eufaula citizens and church members found out that the church was just outside the city limits so the puppies wouldn’t be brought back to the pound to have adequate safety and shelter. That’s when a lady reached out to Paws N Claws- Eufaula and Lori Powell- Fells and her husband Ray Fells drove out to the church to see what could possibly be done.

“It was a horrible situation,” Lori Powell-Fells stated. “These poor pups were in a tub full of water where they had been left out during the rainstorm. They were cold, crying and filthy and could have drowned if someone hadn’t found them in time.”

Because the pups were abandoned just outside city limits, they couldn’t be picked up and brought back to the shelter so Powell-Fells had to beg a lady from the church to take them until Paws N Claws could share them multiple times on their Facebook page to try and find forever them homes for them. Luckily a good Samaritan Katie Eslick was able to take them in and found homes for five of the six. One pup is still looking for his forever home and if anyone is interested they can call 539-232-3887 to give him the home that he deserves.

Unfortunately Paws N Claws is seeing more and more of this type of animal abuse and abandonment not just in Mc-Intosh County but also the surrounding areas. Powell-Fells’ Paws N Claws partner, LaDonna Rhodes, currently has five puppies that were tossed out in the woods with their mama but good Samaritans picked them up and Rhodes was able to make arrangements to have them transported out of state in a few weeks.

“We have got to get stricter legislation to stop animal abuse, neglect and abandonment in our state or we are all going to find out what is feels like to be left out in the pouring rain,” Rhodes said.