Dozens of dogs recovered throughout city

CLOVIS — If you were cold rushing from your vehicle to your house last Thursday, when the temperature reached a low of 24 degrees, imagine being stranded outside.

That was the case for more than two dozen Chihuahuas that have been recovered from multiple locations on the outskirts of town, seemingly all abandoned.

Cindy Clayton, co-founder of Cindy’s Hope for Precious Paws, said she was notified about 8 p.m. Thursday that several dogs had been spotted near Gattis Middle School.

Clayton and other volunteers, armed with kennels, blankets and treats, searched for the dogs for a couple of hours, ultimately corralling nine that night.

“Our main focus is to get them all into safety and out of the cold,” Clayton said. “We were lucky we found any of them. They were shivering, it was just awful.”

In the following days more dogs were found around town, including near Llano Estacado and Norris streets.

Clayton said she believes at least 26 Chihuahuas were abandoned last week. She said 23 of the dogs are in the care of various foster homes, two were picked up by individuals not associated with her group and one died after being struck by a car.

“I’m hoping and praying we don’t get another one,” Clayton said. “We keep hoping we’ve got the last one and then another one pops up and it’s clear away from where the others were found.”

Clayton said the dogs all share a similar appearance, leading her to believe the Chihuahuas are coming from the same source.

“They have the same eyes and the same kind of ears and stuff so you can tell they’re related,” Clayton said.

Clayton said the dogs ages range from about 4 months to 6 or 7 years old.

Eveline Wedgeworth, one of the volunteers fostering two of the dogs, said she did not know why someone might abandon the animals.

She suspects they were breeding dogs for money and either decided they did not want the animals anymore or were afraid of getting caught.

“I honestly think it’s some kind of puppy farm or just breeding because a lot of the females that we are fostering have had numerous and numerous amount of puppies,” Wedgeworth said.

Clayton said police have been notified about the dog dumping. Attempts to reach CPD for comment on the investigation Tuesday were unsuccessful.

Clayton said she hopes to find homes for the animals, but first needs to raise funds to pay for vaccinations, spaying and neutering.