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ATTLEBORO - The numbers of discarded dogs has sparked worry among city animal care workers for months, but when one saw a green van pull up near the city's shelter and throw a poor little pooch out the door and drive away, they knew it was time to speak out.

"People are taking the easy route," said Ellaina Knight one of the outraged volunteers for Friends of the Attleboro Animal Shelter. "They are just throwing them out like yesterday's trash."

The dog was terrified and roamed the neighborhood for weeks avoiding contact with volunteers who tried to catch it.

When someone finally was able to coax it inside a home, it was discovered the dog had an implanted micro-chip which led investigators to a Pawtucket address, but the people who occupied the home claimed to know nothing.

FAAS Canine Coordinator Nancy Robinson said the problem of abandoned, stray and surrendered dogs is like nothing she's seen before. And the actions of the dog owners, who are clearly not dog lovers, are often cruel, she said. Four dogs have been dumped into the shelter's outside pen recently including an elderly Pomeranian which was critically ill with an enlarged heart. Robinson said it was likely left because of its medical problems.

The sick dog eventually had to be put down.

"They didn't care if he had to spend his last month here in a cage rather than at home with his owner," Robinson said. "That was a tough one because he was gorgeous."

But the bad news doesn't stop.

A Jack Russell-corgi mix was found abandoned in a pet carrier in the Attleboro Industrial park off County Street. Kotah, a young Siberian husky was found running loose in the parking lot of Bristol Place near Home Depot. She wore a pink collar, but no identification.

And Nick, an elkhound picked up as a stray, has spent nearly a week in the pound without one word from his owner.

FAAS knows who the owner is, but he's allowed his presumably beloved pet to languish in a steel-cage with little human contact for days. For Nick, it's really hard because he's under strict quarantine because the status of his medical history is unknown which further limits contact.

Rejection by owners is more and more common, Robinson said.

"Recently we've had four strays that no one ever called for," she said. "They are just throwing them. It used to be that people threw them because of behavior problems, but these are nice dogs."

The Sun Chronicle reported a similar situation facing cats several weeks ago. While the abandonment and surrender problem with cats is bigger, the dogs are gaining. Not only are more dogs being abandoned, but there's a corresponding lessening of interest in adoption which is straining the efforts of FAAS which has limited space. The organization is limited to two surrenders at a time, with most of the cage space being reserved for strays.

A number of abandonments are clearly related to economic problems, but sometimes workers never find out why a dog ends up alone, Robinson said.

Many dog owners don't explore possibilities before kicking their pets out, she said.

There are options other than abandonment or surrender and FAAS is there to help, Robinson said.

She said shelter volunteers are ready, willing and able to use their resources to try to find a new home for an unwanted pet, she said.

Pet owners should never abandon their pets, which is illegal, and they should never buy adds that say "free to a good home," Robinson said.

"Unscrupulous people look for those ads and sell the dogs to labs or use them for pit bull bait," Robinson said.

And dogs put out on their own often get hit by motor vehicles, she said.

"Don't dump your dogs," is the message Robinson wants out there. "We're here, we'll help. We'll do anything we can to help place your dogs."

FAAS can be contacted by calling 508-761-5617. Its fax number is 508-276-0444. The e-mail address is AttleboroPet@hotmail.com.

More information can be found on the FAAS Web site, faaspets.org.