Ft. Meyers Homeless Man Vows to Protect Homeless Mother & Puppies

kill the dogs.
ANDREW WEST/news-press.coms
"She will stay and die with those puppies. I am sure of that," Walter F.
Frazier, 70, said of the stray dog that made a den under his shack and gave birth
to at least four pups Monday.

Frazier and other homeless men lived south of Work Road in a wooded area of
Fort Myers. They used construction debris to build small shelters along
littered paths in the secluded area.

Early this week, excavation vehicles began clearing the woods for future
construction. Four other homeless men already left to find places to live.
Frazier, however, refuses to go until the puppies and their mother are safe.

He has two unlicensed dogs that he regularly feeds. The female - probably a
mix of German shepherd and Labrador retriever - followed his dogs home
recently.

She comes out from under the shack to eat and drink, but only she can reach
the puppies, who are too young to come out on their own.

"I don't know how I can lift this up to get to them," Frazier said of the
10-by-10-foot shack.

Ria Brown, spokeswoman for Lee County Animal Services, said one of its
investigators will visit the site today.

"Technically, it's not something we normally do," she said.

Going under buildings is a high-risk activity the office tries to avoid
because of costly liability insurance.

"We can't guarantee that we can get them out, if the mother is scared and the
puppies are too young," she said.

Molly Brown of HGO Millwork Inc., at the corner of Work Road and Cargo
Street, said Frazier has lived in the nearby woods since at least 1994.

"He's never given us any trouble," she said. "He takes good care of his dogs.
He's a homeless man about to become even more homeless."

"That's about the saddest thing I ever heard," Ria Brown said.

In the meantime, the heavy, noisy equipment is getting closer and closer to
the puppies.

Scott Cullum, who operates an excavator at the site, said equipment operators will leave Frazier's shack for their last work, probably on Friday.

"We feel bad for him. They don't have any place to go, but we have our job to
do too," he said. "We wouldn't want to kill an animal."

Frazier packed his belongings into shopping carts for his eventual
evacuation. He vows to stay with the dogs until they are safe, however.

"I don't know what I'm going to do," he said. "I'll just have to get up on
the roof or just start screaming and hollering."

He said he lives on a monthly check of about $800 from Veterans Affairs.