Heminger said she is a dog lover. She said, “We adopted our dog, Wilber, from the Humane Society. Unfortun-ately he passed away, but his life-sized silhouette is still on display on the Dairy Queen wall.”
Dairy Queen employee of 18 years, Kim Johnson, feels the same way about the work of the shelter for dogs. She has four dogs, two of whom were adopted from the shelter. The other two were strays that she couldn’t bear to turn away.
Cindy Washburn, who picks up animals for the Humane Society, is frustrated at how dogs are sometimes dropped off. She said, “When we were gone for 10 minutes last week, two mixed breed dogs were left on the doorstep.”
Washburn said they appear to be approximately 1 year old.
“The dogs could have easily wandered into the path of a car on U.S. 31.” Washburn said. “We have 16 dogs in the shelter right now. They were brought in as strays, dumped off when we were not looking or I picked them up.”
On April 24, Washburn was called by police to rescue a dog under the overpass in Bremen. She said, “I had to walk down stepping stones and then  sit down and slide on the ground to get to the dog we have named Gordon.”
Gordon has obviously been someone’s pet. He can shake hands (or paws) and sit or speak on command. Washburn said he is also housebroken.
The staff of the shelter is grateful for the assistance of volunteers. Since April, Natasha and Leroy Wiegand have been stopping to walk dogs outside so the staff can clean cages. The shelter only has seven dog runs outside.
Washburn said Nicole Newman has been coming into the shelter every Saturday for the past three years.
“She’s only 16 years old, but she has been very faithful,” she said.
Washburn said there are several other volunteers who care about animals as much as we do. “We want to thank all of them.”
To contact the shelter, call 574-936-8300 or stop by at its location on the corner of 13th Road and U.S. 31 in Plymouth.