They were so small and dirty.
The cardboard Layβs chips box left at the SPCA of Petersburg & Colonial Heights was clearly not meant as a donation. For one thing, it was already open.
When a staff member peeked inside, their heart sank. Nestled on an unplugged heating pad were seven tiny puppies, so young that some of their eyes had yet to open. The morning temperatures had dropped into the low 40s, and if the box hadnβt been discovered in time, the outcome could have been tragic. Fortunately, the staff member rushed the box inside and immediately began cleaning and warming the puppies.
Without their mother, caring for the puppies would be an enormous challenge, so the SPCA reached out to Richmond Ruff House for help.
βWe are a foster-based, all-volunteer rescue, which means we could bring them into our homes to make sure they were fed every four hours,β said Cindy Larkin, director and cofounder of Richmond Ruff House, in an interview with The Dodo. βTheyβre doing GREAT! Theyβre receiving regular feedings and gaining weight. Within 48 hours, all of them had opened their eyes. Theyβre going through a full can of milk replacement formula each day.β
Despite the puppies thriving with regular bottle feedings, the rescue knew that nothing could replace the nurturing care of a mother. So, they introduced the pups to a foster dog named Libby.
βSince Libby was still nursing her own litter, we decided to see if she would accept the new babies,β Larkin explained. βShe immediately started cleaning them up and even laid down for them, but at first, they wouldnβt try to nurse. By about 3 p.m. that day, they finally latched on.β
Though the initial meeting was a success, it quickly became clear that Libby, a small Whippet mix, couldnβt handle nursing both her own eight puppies and the seven new ones. The puppies, believed to be bully mixes, were much larger and would drain her physically. Still, Libby continued to care for them in every way she could, even if she couldnβt nurse them all.
βShe kept checking on them and cleaning them up,β Larkin said. βShe definitely acted like a surrogate mother β¦ just without the feeding.β
As the puppies grow, the rescue will continue bottle-feeding them until they are ready to start weaning. Once theyβre old enough, theyβll receive their vaccinations and begin the search for forever homes, where cardboard boxes will be used for movingβ not for shelter.