What likely would have been 28 euthanized puppies had they stayed at their former home in North Carolina became pets yesterday -- all except for Grover -- during the Animal Rescue League's big Presidents Day event.

The league announced its "puppy-palooza" as a weekend adoption blitz because it had accepted a large shipment from a strapped and overwhelmed humane society in Statesville, N.C. The second day of the sevent today has been canceled, with just Grover left.

About 50 people visited the basement of the habitat building in Verona to see the dogs, most of them the snuggly, milk-bellied variety. Some slept in heaps, three or four to a cage, while others tumbled over each other as if auditioning. People strolled from cage to cage, asking to hold this or that one.

Patty Boczar, of Plum, decided on what officially was described as a Doberman-Chihuahua mix.

"Interesting to imagine that," someone muttered.

"I see some beagle," she said, handing him to a friend while she wrote her check. The league named the dog Franklin, but she said he will be Max.

The league named all the dogs for presidents and first ladies in honor of tomorrow's holiday.

The adoptions cost $214 per pup. That included spaying, neutering, the first set of vaccinations, a microchip ID and a five-week obedience class. The league is absorbing another $35 to $85 per dog, said Jennie Wilson, the adoptions manager for the league.

In a side room, two 3-month-old Labrador mixes roughhoused. A carrier jammed in the doorway kept them separate. When her companion was adopted and she was left alone, Betty ran laps in the small room to build up steam for a leap over the carrier. Thwarted each time, she finally worked the carrier sideways and slipped out. In the big room filled with people, she made a neat pirouette and dove under the desk where people were lined up to sign contracts and write checks.

Ms. Wilson pried her out and held her while a television crew interviewed her.

The Iredell County shelter in North Carolina had reached out to find a shelter that could handle the pups, Ms. Wilson said.

Lori Root, a volunteer with the Humane Society of Iredell, said she and volunteer Lee Smith delivered the dogs in a snowstorm "to a happy ending." She said they usually have an outlet for surplus puppies in Long Island but that shelter was full at the last minute.

"We don't have a mandatory spay and neuter program here yet, and we are just swamped with puppies. These people at your facility reached out absolutely like an angel," taking the puppies and a mother dog that had been hit by a car. She needs to be trained and rehabilitated to be adoptable.

All the dogs were of mixed breed, most part Australian cattle dog or Australian shepherd and many part Rottweiler.

Fourteen-year-old Michael Puff, of Knoxville, settled on a pied Australian shepherd mix named Rosie -- presumably after Roslyn Carter -- for his mother "because she came right up to her. And she's really pretty."

Plenty of people looked over the last of the bunch, Grover. A mix between cattle dog and beagle, he is a little more white than black and about 10 weeks old. He will be available for adoption Tuesday, said Ms. Wilson. She admitted that the breed descriptions are best guesses.

Louise Graziani snuggled Calvin, a cattle dog mix, tracing the white line up the middle of his head. She smiled as she rubbed his ears and watched the parade of people and puppies.

"We're still thinking about it," said her husband, Andrew Graziani. The couple live in New Castle with four cats and a guinea pig.

"He's making up his mind," she said. "I'm sold."