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By GIL WEISINGER ROCK HILL A whimpering mother dog is found tied to a tree in the wilderness with her three pups snuggling close for protection. Another dog is found dying of malnutrition. A cat is rescued after being thrown from a Speeding car. These incidents and numerous others are the concern of the Sullivan County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), but should be the concern of every humane person, SPCA agent Wesley V. Gorton said Tuesday. As Gorton spoke, the telephone at the Rock Hill shelter rang continuously with people clamoring for the shelter to take their unwanted pets. Some calls were from people seeking dogs or cats, but, Gorton said sadly, these calls are few. The shelter, which opened March 12, he said, has about 30 dogs and 10 cats available for adoption. Each faces extermination unless someone comes forth to provide them with a good home. The shelter is packed to more than capacity, Gorton said, and unless several pets are adopted, there will be a problem after the summer when many tourists as well as local people abandon their “Fair weather friends.” Gerton appealed to people to come to the shelter just to look at the pets, and maybe then, he said, they could find it possible to provide them with a home. If people do not want these animals, he said, gazing at the open pit behind the building, they will have to be disposed of and buried in the temporary graveyard. Dogs, he said, are the society’s main problem since more of them than any other animal find their way to the shelter. A large Newfoundland, beagles, collies, Irish setters, several puppies of all descriptions, and some pets with registration papers make their home at the shelter. The shelter is supported by the county and donations of the society’s 350 to 400 members and other benefactors. It is the only facility of its kind for about 20 miles, Gorton said, with the nearest being in Deerpark in Orange County. Gorton was upset about the mistreatment of animals, and emphasized that people can call the shelter at any time to dispose of their unwanted pets. But, he said, “under no circumstances” should any pet be abandoned without insuring its welfare. Angrily, he recounted the most recent case of abandonment and told how a mother dog was found tied to a tree about a half mile deep in the woods with her three six-weeks old pups. While it was not known exactly how long the dog had been there. He said there are penalties for abandoning animals, a law of which many people are not aware. Fines and imprisonment are results of violation. Gorton noted that no one should take a pet just for the summer with the intention of turning it back during the winter months. Each person who adopts a pet, he said, should remember it is having one more faithful companion from extinction. Wesley V. Gorton, special agent for the Sullivan County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, cuddles one of three puppies found near its mother who was tied to a tree deep in the Wurtsboro Woods.TH-Record photo by Gil Weisinger
Newspaper Details
The Times Herald Record
Middletown, New York, US
Wed, Jul 21, 1971
Page 12
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 01 Jun 2026
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