Vulnerable puppies rescued from 'bleak' conditions by South West animal charity
Gables Dogs & Cats Home, which operates across Devon, Cornwall and Somerset, have issued an urgent plea
Last updated 22nd May 2023
An animal rescue centre which operates across Devon, Cornwall and Somerset has issued an urgent plea after taking in 25 puppies and dogs from homes with 'no food, water or shelter from freezing conditions'.
They say it happened 'a few months ago', with the team from Plymouth-based Gables Dogs & Cats Home called out to remove the dogs from a location in our region.
Deputy Manager, Ruth Rickard, and General Manager, Claire Sparkes, made the 90-mile trip to rescue the animals.
In all, nine young puppies (8-12 weeks old), a 6-month-old puppy and three mothers were rescued.
When they arrived back at Gables, the three mothers and litters of puppies went home with Ruth to her on site bungalow. One tiny puppy was rushed to the vets for warm fluids and it was quickly established by the vets team that the mothers were too stressed to care for their puppies.
Two of these had to later be hand-reared just to be given a fighting chance at survival.
Claire and Ruth said: “Although the conditions were shocking to see we are grateful that we could help.
"The journey home was very emotional as we processed what we had witnessed but we are determined to change the lives of these poor dogs. The hardest part was leaving some behind but we knew other rescue centres were taking in the rest”.
The animal rescue centre are now issuing a plea for help following three weeks of intensive care.
They estimate Gables will have spent ÂŁ6,000 for the intensive care, neutering, hernia repairs, skin infection treatment and basic care such as vaccinations, flea and worm treatments for this rescue mission alone.
You can find out more about their appeal here.