“How heartless can you be?”
Sonia Antonela Costas has a deep passion for rescuing animals, which led her to establish Sonia’s Safe Animal Haven, a rescue organization she runs out of her home in Romania. With the support of her son, Alex, and partner rescue groups like Inge2TheRescue, she has saved hundreds of animals from neglect and abandonment.
Recently, Costas received a call from her town’s mayor about a group of baby animals struggling near a dumpster. When she arrived at the scene, she was shocked to find seven newborn puppies, just two days old, huddled together in the trash. “How heartless can you be?” she later wrote in a Facebook post. Sadly, animal abandonment is common in her area, and many pass by needy dogs and cats without a second thought. “People tell us that we are crazy because we save animals,” Costas told The Dodo. “But we don’t care.”
Without hesitation, Costas carefully gathered the fragile puppies and placed them in a blanket-lined box, keeping them warm with a water bottle. She immediately took them to a veterinarian to treat them for hypothermia and ensure their survival. With the assistance of local law enforcement, she was able to identify the person who had dumped the puppies and also locate their mother. To her surprise, she discovered the puppies had an eighth sibling who had been living safely with their mother all along.
Costas reunited the entire family, giving the puppies the care and comfort they desperately needed. The dog family is now under her custody, safe from further neglect, and waiting to be placed in permanent, loving homes. “[Their] future will be nice,” Costas said. “We will try to [find] them a forever home.”
Her tireless dedication to saving animals highlights the compassion and courage required to stand up for the voiceless—even in communities where rescuers are often met with skepticism. Through her efforts, these puppies and their mother now have a chance at a happy, secure life.