PEI

Hounds seized by Humane Society last month destined for new homes

The PEI Humane Society has seized five dogs it says were being neglected, and now, the society is focusing on finding new homes for them.

Three of the five dogs have been adopted, as of Thursday

Staff at the PEI Humane Society have been doing a lot of rehabilitation with the dogs since the seizure. (Katerina Georgieva/CBC)

The PEI Humane Society has seized five dogs it says were being neglected, and now, the society is focusing on finding new homes for them.

Development co-ordinator Jennifer Harkness says the dogs were seized last month, and were put up for adoption on Wednesday.  

"We call them our princesses," she said. The staff have named them Snow White, Rapunzel, Mulan, Aurora and Tiana.

The hounds are all female and range from two to five years of age. They've been in the care of the shelter for close to a month now where staff and volunteers have been working with them on a daily basis.

"They did come from a very unfortunate situation where they were neglected. So they were very frightened and very fearful when arriving here at the shelter and we've done a lot of rehabilitation with them. And we've really seen their personalities blossom. It took a very long time for them to trust our staff and trust our volunteers," said Harkness.

'They have been through a lot'

The dogs are very sweet, she explained, but they will need special care in their new homes. Ideally, she'd like to see them adopted into quiet households.

Jennifer Harkness, the development co-ordinator with the PEI Humane Society says the dogs came from a 'very unfortunate situation where they were neglected.' (Katerina Georgieva/CBC)

"We're really excited about finding the right homes for them, but they're a special case and because they have been through a lot, we really just want to see them, moving forward, be able to be dogs in life and be able to have what most dogs have on a daily basis, and that's walks and love and the right nutrition and exploring the world with somebody that they trust."

The dogs are very timid, and it will likely take a long time for them to feel comfortable in a new home, she said, "but once they do, we do think that they'll really, really come alive."

Circumstances of the seizure unknown

The Humane Society couldn't comment on the specifics of the seizure or whether the owner would face charges.

Aurora is one of the five dogs seized last month. (Katerina Georgieva/CBC)

Adoption applications have already come in, and the Humane Society confirmed that as of Thursday, three of them have been adopted so far. 

"They're just really, really special dogs, and we're really glad to see them really come to trust people again and really come out of their shell and we just really want to find the right homes for them so they can live their happily ever afters," adding that she'd like to see them all adopted by Christmas.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Katerina Georgieva

Host of CBC Windsor News at 6

Katerina Georgieva is an RTDNA award winning multi-platform journalist for CBC News based in Windsor, Ont., with a passion for human interest stories. She has also worked for CBC in Toronto, Charlottetown, and Winnipeg. Have a news tip? You can reach her at [email protected]