16 puppies allegedly dumped at gas station saved by Pasco County rescue group

PASCO COUNTY, Fla. - A Pasco County animal rescue group stepped in to save 16 puppies allegedly found dumped at a gas station as other larger Bay Area shelters continue to suspend intakes due to canine influenza. 

Pasco Animal Services has been on lockdown since early June when all its dogs were believed to be exposed to the highly contagious virus. 

On Thursday, someone arrived at the facility with two large crates containing 16 puppies in the bed of their pickup truck, hoping to leave them there.  They claimed they found the puppies outside a Circle K. 

Pasco Animal Services called the Suncoast Animal League for help. Director Rick Chaboudy knew it was their duty to take them in. 

"You know, I've been doing this for a lot of years and some of this stuff still stuns me that somebody could do that," he said.

It was immediately clear to staff that the puppies had not been living in favorable conditions. 

"These puppies had so many fleas you can't even imagine and a lot of them have cuts and scrapes and scars," Chaboudy said. "It could be from puppy wrestling or from living in cages with wires poking out." 

Chaboudy believed the pups were from at least two different litters. Some resembled Pitbull mixes and others appeared to be Jack Russell Terriers.

"The remarkable thing is this all happened so late in the day. We put out a post [on social media]. It wasn't a post of a bunch of cute little puppies. It was from afar in these cages, they were all packed together," he said, "We put it out there just hoping a few of them could go into a foster home so that we don't have to house them here." 

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In less than 3 hours, the non-profit received more than 65 responses from people offering to foster.

Cindy Young, a volunteer and foster for the Suncoast Animal League, took two of the puppies home. After only a few days, she noticed a positive shift in their personalities. 

"We have two boxers at our house so they're kind of helping them, showing them the ropes," she said. "They're doing great. These are the sweetest two puppies."

Chaboudy said the next step in order to get all 16 puppies' adoption-ready will be a challenge. 

"One of the problems we're having now is getting the animals spayed and neutered. It's taking forever. Right now, we're getting vet appointments all the way out in September. It's a lack of staff, too many animals." 

That's why the non-profit is taking things into their own hands. 

"Not far from our shelter, we bought some property and we're putting in a spay and neuter clinic," he said. "We're trying to get that up and running for us as quickly as possible."

The Pasco County Sheriff's Office said it is not investigating the dumping case at this time.

For more information on the Suncoast Animal League, click here.

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