Dumped puppies lucky to be alive
Three puppies were left to starve in a cage in a forestry area near Nelson.
Only the chance intervention of forestry workers, who followed tyre tracks in a Hope Saddle forestry block, saved the mixedbreed pups.
The workers were suspicious about the tracks in an area where they knew no-one should be. Close to where the tracks stopped, they found the pups abandoned in a cage at the bottom of a bank.
The pups were handed in to the Nelson SPCA last Friday. Centre manager Donna Walzl said the person who brought them in said it appeared that a vehicle ‘‘had backed up, and pushed the cage off the back, and tipped it down the hill’’.
Walzl said the pups were lucky to have been found. They appeared to have been abandoned the previous night or that morning. ‘‘If they’d been there all weekend, they wouldn’t have survived.
‘‘It’s really awful. These are old-ish, three-month-old puppies. Somebody’s had these guys for probably about 12 weeks, and somebody must recognise them.’’
The dogs were ‘‘in a pretty awful state’’ when they were brought in, but had made a good recovery, she said.
They were of an indeterminate but ‘‘biggish’’ breed, possibly of hunting dog stock, and were friendly and energetic, Walzl said. After another week to confirm their good health, they would go up for adoption.
‘‘They’re a little bit shy at the moment. They’ve had quite a big trauma in their lives at quite a young age.’’
Walzl said anyone who had puppies they couldn’t deal with should approach the SPCA for help. ‘‘We really support them in finding them some good homes.’’ The SPCA’s initial advice was to desex pets to avoid unwanted litters, and if anyone had an unwanted litter, to seek help.