Dog pulls her drowned puppies from New Zealand estuary

Animal welfare officers are horrifed at the actions of an unknown person who threw a sack of newborn puppies into an estuary at Welcome Bay, Tauranga. A bag holding at least six American pit bull staffordshire-cross puppies drowned after they were thrown into the estuary, near James Cook. Dr. Sonia Landers from Tauranga SPCA found the bag of dead puppies and their distraught mother dog at 7am on Saturday. The mother dog was howling.



Tauranga SPCA was notified of the case early on Saturday morning after a Welcome Bay resident saw the dog's attempt to save her puppies the night before. Tauranga SPCA animal welfare inspector Jason Blair said the resident, who lived about a block from the estuary, heard howling about 1am on Saturday. After the howling continued for about two hours, the resident became distressed by the noise, so went down to investigate, Mr Blair said.

"They witnessed the [mother] dog carrying a red reusable New World shopping bag, as well as puppies, get out of the water and take them up the bank. They saw the dog pace back and forward between the shore, with the bag of puppies in her mouth," Mr Blair said. Between the time of the incident and 7am, someone managed to put a rope around the mother dog's neck and contain her until the SPCA arrived the following morning, Mr Blair said.



Mrs Landers said when she got to the scene, the mother dog was "severely distressed", very skinny and "moderately malnourished". Mrs Landers said anyone who was capable of throwing the puppies into the water "deserved to be locked up behind bars". "I really want to find the person responsible so they can be brought to justice." Tauranga SPCA knows where the dog and puppies have come from but have been unable to find the offender at this stage. Mr Blair said the Tauranga SPCA needed the help of the public to find the person who dumped the bag of puppies in the estuary.