'Dumpster puppies' survive thanks to fast-acting animal shelter
'Their destiny was not in a garbage can ... their destiny was with families that love them'
A litter of seven newborn puppies left for dead in a California dumpster has been saved, thanks to a Nevada animal shelter that came to the rescue.
The so-called dumpster puppies were found Oct. 29 in a dumpster behind a Radio Shack in Susanville, Calif., with their umbilical cords attached. The two-day-old mutts were taken to the Lassen County Animal Shelter, which did not have the resources to care for them.
"They called us," Melissa Shaw, an adoption specialist with Pet Network Humane Society in Incline Village, Nev., told the Los Angeles Times. "We're a small shelter, and we are able to do around-the-clock care. And that's what these puppies needed."
Staffers from the Humane Society drove more than two hours to collect the tiny dumpster pups. According to Shaw, they were "clinging to life."
"At first, they weren't even little balls of fur yet," she said.
Volunteers scrambled to care for the pups, as their foster homes were forced to mimic the constant feeding and nurturing their mother would've given them.
"It's a monumental undertaking," Jason Stipp, Pet Network executive director, told Today.com. "The first thing we did is mobilize our volunteer staff. We have some folks who were willing to commit to that kind of endeavor. Basically, it's mixing the formula, and you have to bottle-feed them every two hours. So, you're up all night, and that's the minimum. What they need is constant contact, so they know that they're loved."
The puppies — four males and three females — had to have "their bellies expressed to stimulate digestion," the Tahoe Daily Tribune said. "While the dogs’ mother would have used her warm wet tongue to do this, the volunteers had to rub the puppies’ bellies with warm wet towels."
Pet Network had experience in handling such cases. In July 2013, the Nevada shelter helped save a litter of 10 puppies found stuffed inside a trash bin in Incline Village. Four died, but six survived.
"We knew what to do," Shaw said of the latest litter.
After about five weeks of intensive foster care, the dumpster pups were big enough to transition from bottle feeding to eating gruel. The dogs — named Bacall, Bindi, Bogey, Chief, Gabe, Michonne and Piper by the Nevada shelter staff — were vaccinated and spayed or neutered before being put up for adoption.
Due, in part, to local news reports, it didn't take long for all of the dumpster puppies to find permanent homes.
"Their destiny was not in a garbage can," Jack Wolford, who adopted Chief, told KOLO-TV. "Their destiny was with families that love them."
A crowdfunding campaign launched by the Pet Network Humane Society to offset the cost of saving the pups has raised more than $7,000. All proceeds will go to the nonprofit shelter.
