Dog dumper confesses

The person responsible for dumping dogs near the Taylor/Marion County line made a call for help and revealed her identity Thursday.

According to a Taylor County Animal Shelter report, Christina Gribbins of Taylor County called the Taylor County Animal Shelter around 2 p.m. Thursday and asked that someone come remove some dogs she had at her home.

Shelter Director John Harris stated in the report that 19 dogs were living in outdoor kennels and five were inside the Gribbins residence. Harris wrote that Gribbins had received the dogs from animal shelters near London and Lancaster. There was no paper trail on the animals, Harris wrote, and Gribbins is not licensed to operate a kennel or animal rescue.

The report also states that Gribbins met people half way between her home and their location and got the animals to take to her home. She allegedly told Harris and TCAS staff that she became overwhelmed with all of the animals, which led to the dropping off of 20 to 30 dogs, according to the report.

Marcia Edwards, president of the Taylor County SPCA, said she discovered the problem in late January when a stray dog came to her home.

Edwards said she noticed a large dog near her home on Jan. 24. The dog would not come close to her, she said, but she could tell it was a large breed, possibly a wolfhound. She later learned that it was an Airedale.

Edwards left food for the dog, and over the next few days, she continued to leave food for it. On the fourth day, she got a surprise.

"When I drove back there to put food in the bowl, this dog comes running up to me, drops that big Airedale head on my shoulder like she was giving me a hug, and I sat there and bawled," Edwards said.

Edwards said she noticed that the dog had something on its stomach. She learned the dog had been spayed recently, and the area was herniated.

When she got back home, Edwards posted her experiences on the Taylor County SPCA and the Guardians of Taylor County Animal Shelter websites. She got a response from Mary Taylor Huntsman of Somerset, who works to find homes for dogs from shelters. Huntsman serves as coordinator of Eastern Kentucky Airedale Terrier Rescue & Adoption Inc., and also as a volunteer with the American Fox Terrier Rescue. Just days earlier, Huntsman was scheduled to pick up a similar dog from the Knox-Whitley Animal Shelter near London to be placed in Pennsylvania. She shared photos with Edwards, who confirmed that this was the same dog Huntsman was to pick up. Edwards learned that the Airedale's name is Fancy.

"She's such a wonderful, beautiful dog," Edwards said.

When Gribbins called the Taylor County Animal Shelter to ask someone to claim the dogs, they were picked up by the shelter and then taken to London by Stephanie Fields who operates a rescue and rehabilitation center for dogs called Homeward Bound. Fields originally had most of the dogs that Gribbins turned in.

According to Edwards, Gribbins had represented herself as operator of A New Leash Animal Rescue and collected dogs from Fields and other shelters and rescue programs. Fields said someone she knew referred Gribbins to her, and a reference check on Gribbins came back OK.

"When I was full here and couldn't take any other dogs in, she would take them to keep them from being euthanized," Fields said. "She would call me frequently, wanting more dogs."

Fields said she thought everything was going fine, and Gribbins was providing information about people who were supposedly adopting the dogs from her.

Fields said that all changed when she got the call from Edwards about Fancy.

"That raised red flags, so I called [Gribbins]," Fields said.

Fields said she knew when she called Gribbins that Fancy had not been adopted as Gribbins claimed. She said Gribbins had given her a name and address of the person who supposedly adopted Fancy. The address, however, turned out to be an empty field near Gribbins's home.

After some phone calls from Edwards to Fields, and also to the Taylor County Animal Shelter and the Taylor County Sheriff's Office, Fields picked the dogs up last Thursday. Fields took the dogs that had come from the rescue, as well as some other dogs that Gribbins had at her home.

"I told her I would take all of the dogs if she would let me, and she told the animal control officer to let me take them all because she knew I would take care of them," Fields said.

When Fields left Taylor County, she took 25 dogs back to her center, including 22 that were at the Gribbins home, as well as one that was at an area vet's office and two others that had been taken to the Marion County Animal Shelter. A veterinarian who provided an exam, vaccinations and other necessary care greeted the dogs in London. On Friday, Fields said the dogs were still dirty and the next step would be grooming.

Fancy, the dog who helped uncover the story, is doing fine, according to Dr. Ben Cox of Crossroads Animal Clinic. He said Fancy is recovering after a procedure to repair the hernia near her spay incision. He said she would go home over the weekend.

Taylor County Sheriff Allen Newton said he believes that Gribbins will probably face animal cruelty charges, but said since the dogs were dumped in Marion County, charges would have to be filed there.

Marion County Sheriff Jimmy Clements said Friday that the investigation is continuing and that he is still working with the Marion County attorney's office to determine what charges Gribbins will face. No charges had been filed as of press time.

A phone call to Gribbins on Friday, at a number provided by Edwards, was answered but a female refused to speak and then ended the call.