By MELISSA N. WARREN / Review Appeal Staff Reporter

Williamson County Animal Control veterinarian Mary Fooshee plays with many of Hollybelle’s Maltese on their first day outside yesterday. They played in a cage donated by an anonymous man who made this possible. (Jim Rodriguez / Staff)

For the first time since at least Jan. 22, when they were confiscated from a Franklin woman’s home “puppy mill,” a dozen of the 230 Maltese dogs went outside in the sun for a while yesterday.

The dogs sniffed around the Williamson County Animal Control facility, then romped and played with each other under the watchful eye of WCAC workers and volunteers. Many of the puppies had never been outside before.

“It just makes me so happy to see them out here like this,” veterinarian Mary Fooshee said as she pointed to the new wire dog pen in the back yard of the center.

“The pen was a gift from a man who was moving,” WCAC Assistant Director Debby Leddy said. “He brought it to us this morning in a U-Haul, and we set it up so the dogs could come out today. These dogs have never seen the light of day. It’s the first time.”

Some 230 animals were confiscated from dog breeder Jennifer Siliski’s home at 2235 Bowman Road in Franklin, but three puppies and an adult have since died. Siliski has not yet been charged with a crime.

The animals seemed especially interested in the cedar chips that covered the ground yesterday, and the one tree that stood in the middle of the pen.

“I think every dog in there has gone on that tree at least five times each,” Fooshee said.

WCAC wants donations of cedar shavings, specifically the kind used in horse stalls. They may be found at farm supply stores. Such chips, used to help keep pens clean, can be delivered to the facility at 138 Claude Yates Drive, off Hillsboro Road.

The volunteers and staff will continue to work around the clock to feed, bathe, groom and play with the animals. But having the pen will make it a lot easier on the dogs, Leddy said.

Her own dog, a German shepherd pup named “Morgan,” found a way into the pen with the smaller dogs.

“Morgan will be good for them — those other little ones need to learn how to play. They’ve never done this before.”

Leddy said the dogs will be taken outside daily as long as it is not raining.

Staff Reporter Melissa N. Warren can be contacted at melissa@reviewappeal.com.