In the midst of last weekend’s freezing temperatures, a Monongalia County Dog Warden went above and beyond to rescue a group of dogs that were left to withstand the cold.
According to Monongalia County Canine Adoption Center Director Dana Johnson, at about 9 p.m. Dec. 23, Dog Warden Garrett Stansberry left to assist a Monongalia County Deputy with a call for endangered dogs in the Blacksville area.
Initially, Stansberry had difficulty finding the location and had to turn around. Icy roads then caused him to slide into a ditch, leaving him in need of a rescue.
Once Doug’s Towing came and pulled him from the ditch, Stansberry continued his search for the dogs, despite below zero temperatures.
While specific details on the conditions in which the dogs were found cannot be released due to pending charges against the owner, Stansberry eventually found seven dogs inside a camper with no electricity, no water, and really no shelter as there was snow inside the camper as well, Johnson explained.
“They worked diligently in the freezing cold and got all of the dogs out of the camper,” Johnson said. “He started the call at around 9 p.m. and did not finish it until almost 4 or 5 a.m.”
Johnson said all seven of the dogs are doing fine, but are not adoptable at this time because of the pending charges.
“Everybody’s in good shape now, they’ve all been fed, watered – they are all warm and they are all together in the same big kennel so they are not scared,” she said.
Dog wardens in Monongalia County respond to animal control calls 24 hours a day during the week, but Johnson said what many people do not realize is on weekends wardens can only respond to calls when a police officer asks for assistance with an animal.
Johnson said Stansberry is a fairly new warden and has only been there a couple of years.
“To some people that might seem like a long time, but when you become a dog warden it’s not the kind of thing where you go to school to learn how to be a dog warden, it is all hands-on learning, and honestly, you are in training for well over a year to two years,” Johnson explained. “So, he did great – he did such a fine job.”
Monongalia County Commission President Tom Bloom mentioned the rescue at this week’s meeting acknowledging the fortitude of our county emergency responders.
“The individual went out in that storm, got stuck in the snow and rescued seven dogs from a facility – those are the people that make our county so successful,” he said. “The quality of life is because of those individuals.”
