As the founder of a rescue dog organization, Sarah Silverstein has seen dogs in many sad situations. But even after seeing so many upsetting sights, Silverstein still was completely shocked by what was found outside Rescue Dogs Rock’s shelter in Del Rio, Texas.
One freezing night in January 2018, Silverstein received a call from one of her workers saying that they had found 10 newborn puppies piled in the shelter’s trash can.
Silverstein couldn’t believe someone would be so cruel to helpless, newborn puppies. She told The Dodo:
“They were left in that bin like trash. They were just thrown in there — piled like garbage, thrown in like trash. There was no care, no respect. Awful.”
The puppies had been abandoned on one of the coldest days of the year in Texas—it was just 30°F outside when the workers found the puppies. With temperatures that low, it was a miracle the puppies survived.
The worker brought the little puppies inside and quickly warmed them up. They wanted to feed the puppies, but they had to wait—the puppies were freezing cold, and puppies who are cold cannot digest food. If they drank milk while they were that cold, it would curdle in their stomachs, killing them.
Once the puppies were finally warm enough, the workers at Rescue Dogs Rock fed them milk from a bottle. They also examined them, and they learned that they were actually older than they looked. They were the size of one to two week old puppies, but they were really three to four weeks old. Being neglected had stunted their growth.
Once the puppies were stabilized, Rescue Dogs Rock put a post on their Facebook page, describing what happened to them.
https://www.facebook.com/RescueDogsRockNyc/photos/a.676324122448347.1073741828.566667286747365/1671316356282447/?type=3&theater
Rescue Dogs Rock also asked for people to foster the puppies. A volunteer for Rescue Dogs Rock quickly said they would help, and they found a good foster home for the puppies.
Sadly, one of the puppies didn’t make it, but the other nine are slowly starting to recover from their ordeal.
“They look good; they’re in great hands and they’ve had medical treatment,” Silverstein said. “One is not doing well, so [the foster mom is] basically carrying that one wherever she goes.”
The puppies are now starting to grow bigger. Once the puppies are strong enough, Silverstein and her partner hope to bring them to their main rescue center in New York City.
Even after the puppies move to New York City, it will still be a long time until they’re ready to be adopted. Silverstein and her staff will monitor the puppies’ growth carefully, and they’ll make sure the little pups stay healthy.
We may never know who cruelly dumped these helpless puppies on a frigid winter night, but thankfully they’re in good hands now. Rescue Dogs Rock will provide these puppies with the love and care they need to recover from everything they went through.
