Animal rescue rehabilitates four puppies found abandoned next to New Haven dumpster
A good Samaritan found six hours-old puppies in a hamper next to a dumpster in New Haven on Saturday and called New Haven Animal Control.
“We suspect that they were 24 hours old when we got them,” said Rebekah DeMatteo of Army’s Legacy Rescue. “Their umbilical cords were still wet and had traces of blood on them.”
At the time, there were six babies alive. Two have since died. Ferrari, Lamborgini, Maserati, and Rolls Royce are the names of the surviving four.
“Mom is probably losing her mind looking for her babies, which is heartbreaking,” DeMatteo said.
Three of the pups are healthy and doing well. They’re getting around the clock care at Army’s Legacy Rescue and being bottle fed every two hours.
The fourth puppy, Rolls Royce, is in critical condition at Guilford Animal Medical Hospital.
“They’re pulling out all the stops to give this puppy the best chance of survival,” DeMatteo said.
The rescue thinks the dogs are a mix of a Catahoula Leopard Dog and a pitbull and will probably be medium to large sized. Their eyes should open at the 14 day mark.
“They’ll be probably for the next seven days on that critical line,” DeMatteo said.
Their goal is getting these babies through the next few weeks and eventually they’ll accept adoption applications.
In the meantime, police are looking for answers.
“Could charges result? Yeah they could, absolutely. Is there potential for an extenuating circumstance? Maybe. That’s why want to have this conversation,” said Officer Christian Bruckhardt of the New Haven Police Department.
As a reminder to the public, if you’re in over your head with animals, you can always ask for help instead of leaving them behind.
“These are animals that need basically 24-hour care. To leave them next to a dumpster — that’s a heartbreaking thing to do,” Bruckhardt said.
“I know we would have helped if they reached out, I know hundreds of other rescues would have helped if they had reached out,” DeMatteo said.
New Haven Animal Control is trying to figure out who left these puppies behind. They say if you know or have seen a dog who may have given birth recently, to contact animal control. Desmond’s Army is offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads up to an arrest.
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