’Cane pups’ new leash on life

THEY LIVED to wag their tails another day.

More than 50 stray dogs from stormravaged Puerto Rico arrived in New York, where it’s hoped they will find loving homes.

The dogs all have hard-luck stories, with some having been left to die in crates and others suffering from heart worm and eye infections, said Tiffany Lacey, executive director of the Animal Haven shelter in downtown Manhattan.

“Some were street dogs,” she said. “Some were sadly owner-surrendered. As we all know, the situation in Puerto Rico is pretty dire. And there are a lot of people who could simply not keep their pets anymore.”

Still, Lacey smiled watching Sansa and Gordo, 2-month-old siblings, wrestle in one of the shelter’s viewing rooms. The energetic collie-mix puppies didn’t betray any scars from their ordeal.

“These two, they were street dogs,” Lacey said. “This is very typical of the adorable, highly adoptable dogs we get from the Sato Project.”

The dogs were rescued from Puerto Rico by the John and Wendy Neu Family Foundation and the Sato Project. The foundation flew a cargo plane with humanitarian and animal aid supplies and returned with dogs the Sato group saved.

“After Maria hit, what we are hearing is that there aren’t many dogs left,” Lacey said. “Sadly, many didn’t make it.”

On Sunday, the dogs wagged their tails and jumped with joy when they saw a potential family lock eyes with them.

Ilan Pillo, 40, from Fort Greene, Brooklyn, brought his two daughters, Jennifer, 11, and Natasha, 7, to look for potential dogs.

“She’s mine! She’s mine! I want this one!” Natasha said when she spotted a yellow puppy named Holly. “She’s so cute!”