By Chase Ladner

NATCHEZ — Fox the dog was found in the middle of the road, starving on a hot April day.

He weighed five pounds, and his fur was matted where it was not missing. Two months later, he put on 15 pounds and had a healthy coat.

Tuesday afternoon, he left the Natchez-Adams County Humane Society with nearly 100 other puppies on his way to Florida as part of a program that helps transport dogs in overpopulated areas.

The Moving Animals Places program started in Natchez in December 2012 and has been going ever since. Adams County is dealing with a dog overpopulation problem, with the humane society taking in nearly 800 puppies alone a year, said NACHS board president Kathy Fitch.

Fox was one of those puppies. After being brought in, he was fed and medicated and quickly grew. Fitch once thought Fox was a small Pomeranian breed, but after two months of care she suspects that he’ll grow to be 40 pounds. He will be the 1,000th puppy to be sent from Natchez.

“I hoped and dreamed, but I never thought we’d get to 1,000,” Fitch said.

Fitch had difficulties getting the program going in Natchez. A combination of lack of funds and being a smaller animal shelter kept the NACHS from being allowed to cooperate with larger humane societies. The ASPCA was willing to help with the cost in Dec. 2014, and the program has been a success since.

“This is possible because we have a supportive board of directors,” Fitch said. “And a small, but dedicated, group of employees working in a less than optimal situation.”

The puppies are kept in the NACHS’ quarantine shelter for two weeks before the transport. Rows of cages and kennels are kept cool by industrial fans as the NACHS’ staff give each their shots and minimize their contact with untreated dogs so that the puppies will not get sick while they are on the road, said Amber Brown who is an animal care taker.

The NACHS’ staff will take the puppies to meet up with the humane society in St. Martin, La., Fitch said. The puppies are then put onto a professional animal transport that will take them down to three animal shelters in Florida. Many of the puppies have already been adopted and will be picked up by families not long after their arrival.

The move itself takes a lot out of the NACHS budget, Fitch said. She said the time, money and resources put into this program lowered the euthanasia rate of shelter animals from 90 percent to 20 percent over two years.

Fitch attributes the surplus of puppies to dog owners not spaying and neutering their pets. The NACHS tries to send out a group of puppies to a high-demand area nearly every month, and twice in recent months when they take in the most animals.

“Saving lives is not the cheapest thing to do,” Fitch said.

While Fox is headed down to sunny Florida, many puppies are still staying behind in Natchez where the NACHS is located. Some, such as the four-and-a-half month old Dachshund mix named Lady, will stay behind as Fitch and the NACHS try to find them a home in Adams County. Lady will be featured on natchezpetadoptions.org, the NACHS website.