STRATHAM, N.H. (WHDH) - Twenty-eight German shepherds that were being held at the New Hampshire SPCA for nearly two years are now in need of a new home after they were released from protective custody, officials said.
The animal shelter in Stratham says it signed a surrender form on Wednesday, giving the pups a chance to find loving forever homes.
“This is the day that we have been waiting on for far too long,” said Lisa Dennison, Executive Director of the New Hampshire SPCA. “We took some of these dogs into custody in December of 2017 and the rest on January 2, 2018. The system has failed them at every turn, but today we can finally celebrate that they are ours and soon they will be able to be adopted into loving, forever homes. And finally, we will be able to breathe again.”
The shepherds have been held at the shelter for 22 months awaiting the trial, and then the retrial of their former owner, Jennifer Choate, on cruelty charges.
“The case of the German shepherds has been extraordinary. In the more than 638 days, nearly 2 years, that we have been holding the shepherds in protective custody, they have been limbo. They couldn’t be adopted, or even spayed or neutered,” the shelter said on its website. “We walked them almost constantly just to keep them from going stir crazy in their kennels. We have fed, cared for, cleaned up after, and kept them healthy. Their care has taken a toll on our staff and volunteers. But the hardest part has been not knowing when, or if, they would ever be able to be adopted.”
The shelter is now preparing the dogs for adoption. They will all be spayed or neutered, which is expected to take time.
Donations are needed to care for the dogs because they are expected to remain at the shelter through Thanksgiving as potential adopters are identified.
Choate is expected to plead guilty to two counts of animal cruelty on Oct. 11.
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