Staff Writer

Oct. 11, 2000 10 PM

Patrons of the Troy Public Library saw an interesting sight upon entering Tuesday ­ a pile of dog food.

In recent weeks, the library has been collecting dog food to be donated to feed Troy’s homeless hounds.

Troy Police Department animal control officers Cpl. Mike Hughes and Officer Ken Andress were pleasantly surprised by what they found upon their arrival at the library Tuesday afternoon.

"Nobody’s ever done this for us before," Andress said, taking in the large pile of dog food bags before him.

Both men were appreciative of the efforts of those who took it upon themselves to put some dog food in their grocery basket to help the domicile-less dogs.

"It’s going to help a lot," Hughes said. "We won’t have to buy food for a while."

Andress said about 200 pounds of food will feed the sheltered dogs for one to two months, depending on how many they have that haven’t been adopted.

"This will go a long way," Andress said before loading up the truck with the bags and bags of food for Fido. "This is remarkable."

He said the spring and summer months ­ of love and mating ­ are the peak months for the shelter, but things slow down during the fall and winter.

However, there are several pooches barking for a home with someone to love and love them back.

Much of the food was donated by patrons, but the bountiful bags were also brought in by members of Phi Mu sorority at Troy State University. The sorority’s pledge class chose the cause as its philanthropy.