Charity asks for help to find mum of pups dumped on doorstep
MEET the little puppies dumped in a box and abandoned on a doorstep.
A hairdressing salon in Lurgan got quite a surprise when a staff member found the box containing six little bundles of fur.
After being discovered last week they were taken to Almost Home Animal Rescue, which thinks they are around 14 days old and look like akitas.
Sadly, one of the pups didn’t make it but the rest, whose eyes were only just opening when found, are doing well.
The animal charity issued an appeal for anyone who has information about their mum to come forward, confidentially if preferred, as they want to make sure she is safe. However, no one has gotten in touch.
Trustee Karen Matthews told this newspaper: “We are trying to find out if anyone has an akita. We want to find the mum and make sure she is safe over the next couple of days.
“I worry about her. It’s stressful enough when puppies are taken away when they are eight or nine months, so this must be horrendous.
“I’m sure she’s been left thinking, ‘What’s happened?’
“We need to make sure the mum is safe.”
While the five pups are being looked after, they are very young to be without their mother.
“They’ve been great but they’re missing their mummy,” Karen said.
“The hairdresser who discovered them is very animal-orientated and brought them to us. They had been left in a blue carrier with a wee blanket.
“Their eyes were only just opening, so they can only be around 13 or 14 days old.”
With the puppies safe, the shelter’s main concern is now for their mother, who has not been found.
The dogs will stay with the Almost Home Animal Rescue until they are ready to be re-homed, hopefully within the next six to eight weeks.
“They’ll stay and be bottle-fed for now,” Karen said.
“It’s good fun and they are all lying sound asleep.
“You tend to find they (akitas) are always unwanted and don’t get a good press, but they are wonderful and so loyal.
“However, they are one of the dogs that would be destroyed more than others.
“No matter what has happened, the mum is going to miss them and wonder where her babies are.”
When the charity posted photos of the puppies online, it prompted hundreds of messages of concern for both the dogs and their mother.
If you have any information, Almost Home Animal Rescue can be contacted on 07922 921852