BATTLEFORD, Sask. - Twenty puppies abandoned in a Saskatchewan field and rescued by a hunter have made quite a splash at the Battleford Humane Society.
The society says there have been more than 50,000 views of its Facebook page, and 300 people and groups from as far away as Mexico have offered to help.
Shelter manager Michelle Spark says as many as half the animals may already be adopted, although it will be some time before they are ready to go.
Spark says she can’t imagine why someone would abandon the animals, but speculates they may have been placed as coyote bait.
The large-breed pups — believed to be between four weeks and six weeks old — were found by Greg Zubiak on a towel in the middle of a field near Glaslyn on Friday.
Spark says Zubiak has since seen two female dogs that were obviously nursing but couldn't get near them.
The humane society has also received a tip on who the dogs may belong to. The information has been turned over to the Saskatchewan SPCA to investigate.
Spark says attempts may be made to trap the two moms so they can go to the shelter for care, attention and to be adopted to good families.
The pups were hungry, cold, flea-bitten and dehydrated when they were brought in, but a veterinarian examined them and they are all expected to recover.
Zubiak told Global Saskatoon that he did his best to warm up the animals by wrapping them in his jacket and then bringing them to the humane society.
“As I walked around the truck I could see two little eyes looking at me and I could see it was puppies," he recalled. "So then all of them looked at me and I was shocked.
“All I said was, ‘OK, come on,’ and as I said that, they all got up and made their way towards me howling and barking.”
