https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/if-he-d-known-that-dog-was-pregnant/article_9eac8778-0df8-11e4-b00a-0017a43b2370.html
TOM KNAPP | Staff Writer | July 21, 2014
He didn't know the dog was pregnant at the time.
K.D. "Mutt" Zumbrum, who lives on a wooded property near York Springs, Adams County, was driving down a Virginia highway about four years back when he saw a dog running loose down the center lane.
"I knew she was going to get hit if I didn't stop, so I did," he said.
The dog had no tags, so Zumbrum took her home with him.
"I didn't know she was pregnant," he said. "You can imagine what happened next."
Zumbrum abruptly found himself with a litter of a dozen mixed Lab pups. A dog lover with plenty of space, he decided to keep them.
"I already had a couple of dogs. That escalated the problem even more," he said.
Zumbrum, 47, said he's had dogs every day of his life, ever since he was a child.
"I need my dogs," he said. "I'd sooner spend a day with my dogs than just about anybody I know."
But none of his dogs were spayed or neutered. His problem grew.
By the spring of this year, he had close to 50 dogs in his care.
"I managed," he said. "They didn't want for nothing. It took all I had -- but I was running out of faith at the end. I was at my wit's end."
He approached some local animal shelters, he said, but "they were all full. They couldn't help. And I was really struggling."
He was apprehensive about trying to sell them, he added. "I didn't want people think I was a puppy mill. I'm not."
Then he spied an article in which Susan Martin, director of the Lancaster County SPCA, was discussing local animal cruelty cases.
She said they were there to help animals, not prosecute people who were trying to do the right thing, Zumbrum recalled. So, although Lancaster was a good 50 miles away, he decided to give the SPCA a call.
"It was an honor to work with them," he said. "I've got nothing but praise. I didn't know this kind of service existed."
It happens, Martin said with a smile.
"He had gotten in over his head," she said.
"I truly believed he loved them all. He cared for them tremendously. They all had names. It just got beyond what he could handle."
Zumbrum was a little leery at first, she said -- he was worried his animals wouldn't get good care, that they'd be euthanized, or that he would get in trouble for "hoarding" so many dogs.
"It took talking with him for about two weeks before we built up some trust," Martin said.
He agrees. "It didn't take long, she put my fears to rest."
Over the past few months, Zumbrum has brought up to six dogs each week to the shelter -- 43 in all.
Martin said the shelter typically charges a fee for animal surrenders, "but if you walk in and explain your situation, we're willing to help."
"We don't want people to be afraid to come to us," she said. "We're here to help. We're not here to judge."
Zumbrum kept six dogs -- which the SPCA is paying to spay and neuter so this sort of thing doesn't happen again.
"It cuts down on the feed bill, too," he said with a laugh.
The dogs brought to the SPCA shelter mostly ranged in age from newborn to 3 years old, Martin said -- a mix of hounds, shepherds and Labs.
Two died -- one puppy came in with pneumonia and never recovered, Martin said, while the other dog was euthanized because it was overly aggressive.
The rest were in pretty good health, with the exception of a few flea, tick and worm issues that were easily treated.
"They just needed some basic vaccinations and care," she said.
Ten puppies are still too young to be adopted and are being fostered and bottle-fed by SPCA employees. They will be available for adoption when they're a little older, Martin said -- in about four weeks.
Otherwise, she said, as of the end of last week, all but two of Zumbrum's dogs have found new homes.
"We have let him know as each dog was adopted," Martin said.
Zumbrum said he's thrilled at the care his dogs received -- and the swiftness with which they were adopted out.
"I couldn't have asked for more," he said.
He doesn't regret the choice he made back in Virginia four years ago, Zumbrum said.
"Despite all the hardships, I'd do it again -- rather than see a dog spattered on the highway," he said.
He laughed.
"But if you're going to do it, be careful."