Seven tiny Rottweiler puppies and their emaciated mother are recovering after being rescued in the Vancouver Island community of Nanaimo.
BC SPCA investigator Julie Hitchcock says the puppies were just days old when they were found in the yard of a home earlier this month, suffering from hypothermia, parasites and lice.
"The dogs had no shelter at all and the property was covered in feces and garbage," Hitchcock said.
Their sick and starving mother, who had no food, clean water or shelter, was tied to a tree by a short chain and was frantically trying to retrieve a puppy lying face-down in a puddle, just out of her reach.
Hitchcock says the dog's owner surrendered them to the SPCA, rather than pay for needed veterinary care.
Nanaimo SPCA branch manager Leon Davis says all the dogs, including the one found near death in the puddle, are responding to treatment and the mother will be reunited with the pups when all are healthy enough.
"The mom, named Lady, truly lives up to her name," Davis said. "When she was being examined by the veterinarians she was wagging her tail and licking their faces, even after everything she had been through."
The BC SPCA Nanaimo branch is now appealing for donations to pay for a separate enclosure for the puppies when the are returned to their mother, before being adopted out.
With files from The Canadian Press
