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Volunteers, supplies needed for stranded dogs

Melanie Wong
mwong@vaildaily.com
Dogs of all ages, sizes and breeds were housed at the Eagle County Fairgrounds on Friday. Dozens of volunteers turned up to walk and care for the dogs.
Karen Jarchow | Special to the Daily |

EAGLE — An accident on Vail Pass on Thursday afternoon left about 100 dogs stranded in Eagle County, where they are currently being housed by the county’s animal shelter in Eagle.

A truck from Tall Tails Rescue in Fort Worth, Texas was pulling a trailer over Vail Pass, en route to Washington State, when it slid off the road near mile marker 186. The truck was severely damaged, but no people or animals were hurt.

Eagle County Animal Shelter staff quickly mobilized and set up kennels and beds at the Eagle Fairgrounds’ Eagle River Center on Thursday afternoon. Staff and a few volunteers took turns caring for the dogs overnight and put out a call for help on social media channels.



“It’s been amazing so far,” said Eagle County Public Information Officer Kris Friel. “We had about 30 volunteers who showed up (Friday morning) to help with kennel cleaning and dog walking.”

The dogs are expected to be back on their way to Washington by Friday night, but in the meantime, the shelter is in need of volunteer dog walkers around lunchtime and donations of dog supplies and food. Donations and volunteers should go to the Eagle River Center at the Eagle fairgrounds.

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The dogs were on their way to places where the rescue hoped they would have a better chance of adoption, and with the turn of events, Eagle County is now one of those places. Of the 100 animals, all but 10 of the animals already had homes. The remaining homeless pups will stay at the Eagle County shelter for local adoption. See http://www.eaglecounty.us/animal/ for more information on the shelter.

Assistant Editor Melanie Wong can be reached at 970-748-2927 or at mwong@vaildaily.com. Follow her on Twitter @mwongvail.


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