Metro

Rehabilitation center opens for abused dogs

They’re ready to soothe some savage beasts.

The ASPCA is hoping a new canine-rehab center will help turn problem dogs into playful pets, and has just opened the doors to the first-of-its-kind facility.

Three American malamutes, five dachshunds and a Chihuahua will undergo a pioneering program of six to eight weeks of intensive behavior modification, which includes playing classical music to keep them calm.

The $500,000 state-of-the-art research center is being funded by the ASPCA and is located at the nonprofit St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center in Madison, NJ.

Animal behaviorist Kristen Collins, who’s in charge of the new center, said its patients were rescued from puppy mills or seized from animal hoarders.

Left ridden with fear and anxiety by the cruelty they experienced, the pooches can’t interact with humans and would normally have to be put to sleep, she said.

“Most of these dogs have spent their whole lives in one place and have seen few people,” Collins, 37, said.

“They have been in solitary confinement and have never seen the outside world or walked on grass or have been touched by people. They come to us in a state of physical and behavioral damage.”

The malamutes — Avalon, 7, Thunder, 4, and Tabatha, 3 — were rescued from a Montana puppy mill that was shut down. The breeder was jailed for five years on animal-cruelty charges.

The ASPCA’s Cruelty Intervention Advocacy program recovered the dachshunds — Salty, Pepper, Lilly, Carmel and Chrysanthemum — and the Chihuahua, Sugar, from two hoarder homes in the city.

On their first day in doggy rehab Friday, Thunder was too scared to enter his new digs and stayed in his personal fenced-in yard, while Tabatha gave a little tail wag when a staffer approached with food in a rubber toy.

Collins and her 10-member staff monitor each dog’s defensive reactions, including barking, hiding, peeing and other antisocial behavior. Then, an individualized behavior-modification training program is designed for each dog.

Slowly, the dogs will be exposed to their fears, such as the sound of a car horn or a vacuum cleaner, or the sight of a garden hose, or simply a person wearing a hat.

“The most exciting aspect of the two-year research program is that we will be able to collect so much data and track a dog’s success during repeated evaluations that will help us answer how to help hundreds of these undersocialized dogs,” Collins said.

She estimates the center will treat between 150 to 200 dogs a year, all with the aim of turning them into loving, household pets.

After they graduate, the dogs will be sent to participating animal shelters across the country to help in their adoption — and give them a new “leash” on life.

If the project is a success, it will expand to include cats and other animals in distress, Collins said.