An animal transfer program with an adoption agency in Denver, Colo., will provide homes for dogs from Pryor Animal Shelter.

Animal Control Officer Carolyn Erwin said the program likely saved many dogs from being euthanized, especially a black Labrador and her eight puppies.

Erwin said the Labrador she called “Momma,” was at the shelter with her eight puppies. The animal shelter has a difficult time getting black dogs adopted in Pryor. With the family of dogs at the shelter, Erwin began looking for options.

She heard of an adoption agency in Colorado, called the Dumb Friends League, which recently picked up several dogs from an animal shelter in Tulsa.

The organization takes dogs from animal shelters in neighboring states and finds homes for them in Colorado. Since Denver’s spay and neuter laws are so strict, shelters don’t have enough dogs to keep up with the demand of

people wanting to adopt.

Erwin began researched whether the program was

feasible for Pryor. She worked with Police Chief Dennis Nichols to solicit donations of crates, money and transportation.

Erwin said on behalf of herself and Nichols, she’d like to thank the volunteers and the people who donated. The entire trip was made with no cost to the city of Pryor.

“We were so amazed to have the community step up,” said Erwin, adding they’d like to thank the Pryor Animal League for donating crates. She hopes PAL will consider helping with such a program in the future.

On Tuesday, a group of volunteers loaded 32 dogs in crates and kennels and made the trip to Hayes, Kan. The animal league from Denver agreed to meet the group in Kansas to split the distance.

Erwin said the people with the animal league were very nice and she “could tell they really loved animals.”

An animal league volunteer told her all of the dogs would likely be adopted before the weekend was over. The animal league has people who must be screened for approval on waiting lists for the dogs. When the truck pulls up, many people are waiting to pick out their dogs. The dogs must first be spayed or neutered before they can be

adopted.

Erwin said the program was very successful and hopes the shelter can continue to transfer dogs in the future when the animal league makes a trip nearby.

Erwin said transferring the animals was so much better than the alternative, which would have cost around the same amount as the transfer.

“Hopefully, not very many will have to be put down anymore,” she said.

Any money left over from donations was put into a separate account set aside for the animal transfer program. Anyone wanting to donate for future transfers or get more information should call Erwin at

864-6393.