As the agency that turns off the water if customers don't pay the bills, the Altoona City Authority doesn't enjoy a reputation for softheartedness.
But as for the individuals who work there, that's a different story.
On Tuesday afternoon, six workers in the water maintenance department adopted abandoned puppies a hunter plucked off Blue Knob mountain during a sleet storm a few hours earlier.
All of them had been ''in a huddle out in the woods, basically about half froze to death,'' said worker Eric Johnson, relaying what the hunter had said.
Workers who just punched out for the day crowded around the puppies, which were about 11 weeks old, saying ''I'll take this one, I'll take that one,'' calling their wives on cell phones to ask permission, clerk Mary Longacre said.
The hunter planned to leave them at the former city dog pound near the Westerly Sewer Treatment Plant, but a worker intercepted him and told him the city no longer used the pound.
The worker agreed to take the pups from the hunter to the Central Pennsylvania Humane Society, but they never made it that far once the generous spirit of the City Authority workers shined through.
Johnson hadn't planned to take one, but after fellow workers stepped forward, there was only one left.
''I didn't have the heart to send the one away,'' he said.
Crew member Craig Strong had three dogs at home already, plus two horses, a cat, fish and a parrot. Johnson already had a golden retriever, who's with him all the time on his Sinking Valley property.
Dan Baker has a two cats and a dog that he walks all the time with his 13-year-old daughter.
All have wives who love animals.
''I didn't have to twist her arm,'' Strong said of his wife when he recalled the cell phone conversation he had with her about the new addition.
There were four full-blooded golden retrievers, two of each gender, and two full-blooded black Labrador females, the workers said, based on the opinion of a veterinarian.
The hunter told worker Mike Clair he would have taken the pups himself, but he couldn't because he lives in a trailer.
''It's great they found homes right away,'' Humane Society spokeswoman Debbie Pierce said. ''Very caring and sweet.''
The society, however, encourages the adoptive families to get the animals spayed and neutered in keeping with the society's policy - a requirement of state law for all shelter-adopted pets.
Breeding animals can multiply rapidly: One cat can become ancestor to 420,000 in seven years, Pierce said.
Business is busy at the humane society, which took in 1,664 dogs last year, down a little from the year before. It took in 3,234 cats, up a little.
There's normally a holiday lull, but not this year, as intake and adoptions continued strong for dogs and cats, Pierce said.
An increasing number of families said they have had to give up their pets because they can't afford them, and it's reflected on the cards affixed to cages in the shelter, she said.
Other families give up their pets because they're moving into a place that doesn't allow them, and that also may reflect the economic difficulties, she said.
The society formerly required payment from owners surrendering pets, but Pierce said that no longer is the case.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 949-7038.
