22 worm-riddled, hungry, freezing pups dumped
Twenty-two severely underweight puppies were found stranded near a Canterbury river, in what the SPCA says is the largest single dumping of animals in the region in 10 years.
Christchurch SPCA foster and volunteer team leader Jaz Crowther said she ‘‘couldn’t quite believe it’’ when a member of the public called to say they had found 22 puppies alongside the Waimakariri River in North Canterbury on June 21.
Previously, the biggest litter they had found dumped was 10 puppies.
‘‘We couldn’t quite believe it on the phone till they were all here . . . It is very unusual to have that many in at once.’’
SPCA spokesperson Georgia Gilbertson described the puppies as being ‘‘freezing, hungry and riddled with worms’’. They appeared to be about four to five weeks old and were all severely underweight, Crowther said.
The SPCA used a body condition score with a scale of one to five, normally aiming for about 2.5. However, they all scored about one and one puppy died on the first day.
Each puppy weighed between 700 grams and 1.8 kilograms when they were found.
‘‘They were a lot thinner than what they should have been for their age,’’ Crowther said.
The puppies ‘‘got straight into’’ the food when they arrived and had since put on weight.
Crowther said it was stressful having so many but they were ‘‘just so cute, you don’t mind’’.
As they put on weight, it became apparent there were at least two distinct litters where some were significantly bigger than others, she said.
The 21 puppies were named after fictional characters from the Harry Potter book series – something often done at the SPCA, so they could keep track of them, and were known as the ‘‘Potter Puppies’’.
The ‘‘giant of the lot’’ – Hagrid – had doubled in weight since arriving.
‘‘Him next to the smallest two . . . is quite hilarious.’’
Crowther thought they were a staffy mix, with some that had boxer features, while others had huntaway markings.
‘‘I think they are just the classic SPCA special as we call it.’’
All 21 puppies were currently housed across 11 foster families in Christchurch, ‘‘making friends, safe and warm, and eating lots’’, Crowther said
‘‘Lots of them already are well toilet trained as well which is wonderful.’’
They would stay with their foster families until they were about 10 weeks old and would be desexed at the end of the month, she said.