TAMPA, Fla. — A dog and her puppies are under close watch and constant care after they were found left inside a metal crate at a construction site.
On Monday afternoon, the Humane Society of Tampa Bay said a worker showed up at his construction site to find a dog and her eight puppies stuffed inside a rusty metal crate.
"First, I would say there's a lot of kind of anger for everyone because how can someone do this to these innocent little animals, and then you kind of go right into your zen kind of work mode of okay, what are we going to do, what do we need to do to start helping these guys and making them feel better,” said Dr. Jaclyn Francin, the shelter veterinarian.
Because the site was closed for the weekend, the Humane Society doesn’t know how long the animals were there, dealing with sweltering heat and rain.
"They were infested with fleas, infested with all sorts of parasites, really emaciated. Most of the litter is doing well,” said Francin. “Two of the littermates, one needed a blood transfusion, so we did that, and then the other guy may need it.”
The mom and six of her puppies are in isolation but in better shape, while the two remaining puppies are in foster care.
“We're cautiously optimistic about them,” said Dr. Francin. “They're making steps in the right direction, but they still have a little ways to go."
The Humane Society urges people not to abandon their pets. They said if you can’t care for them, there are options for you, so reach out for help.
In the meantime, these puppies are on the mend.
"We have the best care, so they're going to be given the medicine, food, the love, the attention that they need, and then they're going to get healthier, grow up, get bigger,” said Regan Blessinger, Marketing and Content Manager for the Humane Society of Tampa Bay.
She added, “They're only about a month old, so we still have about four to five weeks that they would even be adoptable anyways, and in that time, they're going to get to be puppies. They're going to get to play and just be healthy and happy and then eventually go to forever homes."
