It never ceases to shock us how cruel some people can be to animals. Heartless people abandon innocent dogs in the most awful ways.
That was the sad situation for a group of tiny, adorable puppies who were left for dead, but were miraculously saved just in time.
On July 8, Director of Veterinary Science Alexander Smyth received a call about what was believed to be a bag full of kittens near a river crossing in County Donegal, Ireland.
He investigated the scene, and found the bag hanging from a barb wire fence, right next to the river.
He opened the bag and found not kittens, but tiny, newborn border collie puppies.
It was a shocking sight. It was immediately clear that someone had attempted to drown the puppies by throwing them in the river. It was a miracle they had snagged the fence, and were found just in time.
“It is disturbing how anyone could be so cruel and heartless, to put three vulnerable little puppies in a plastic bag leaving them to dangle over a river to an inevitable death,” ISPCA Senior Inspector Kevin McGinley said. “There is just no words.”
The puppies were only a week old. It wasn’t clear how long they had been out there in the bag, but they needed urgent help.
The pups were taken to the ISPCA Animal Rehabilitation Centre, where they received constant care and are now in stable condition, continuing to receive intensive care for a few weeks.
While things worked out for the dogs in the end, their story still shocked and saddened everyone involved. If that plastic bag had torn at all, the puppies would have fallen into the river to their deaths.
Most of all, they were saddened by how preventable this would’ve been if the unwanted puppies had just been surrendered to a shelter properly.
“This is a tragedy in this day and age with so many animal charities and places that are willing to care for these animals, the suffering of these animals could have been avoided,” Alexander Smyth said.
“The situation could easily have been avoided if the puppies’ mother had been spayed or if the dog’s owner had contacted the ISPCA for help,” Kevin McGinley added. “Spaying and Neutering is the obvious solution in preventing unwanted puppies from being born in the first place.”
We’re glad these puppies were found and are recovering! It’s an important reminder to keep an eye out for and report animal cruelty — quick intervention saved these puppies’ lives.
It’s also a reminder to spay and neuter your pets… and if necessary, get help from a shelter instead of abandoning them like this.
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