This is the heartbreaking moment animal rescuers discovered a dog and puppies ‘left to die’ in a roadside ditch – only to find another litter just five minutes down the road.
Dedicated British volunteers from Sadie’s Stray Dog Rescue made the shocking discoveries by chance last week as while driving down a country road in Romania, where they take in strays.
It is believed the small pups had been abandoned inside a large plastic bag near Bachau, Romania.
Sickening footage shows an exhausted mother dog limping and cowering by the road side as the volunteer rescuers carefully pick her and her weeks-old puppies up.
The five newborn puppies are so young they haven’t even opened their eyes and some are still trying to suckle from their mum as she is lifted up in the distressing clip.
The adult had a broken leg and lost the sight in her eye from an injury.
Laura Myatt, 32, was among the team who found the first puppies next to the plastic bag and believes they had been dumped in it.
Laura, from Lamport, Northamptonshire, wrote: ‘As we drove past, out [of] the corner of my eye I saw her.
British volunteers from Sadie’s Stray Dog Rescue found a mother and her puppies abandoned inside a large plastic bag near Bachau, Romania
‘I thought she’d been dumped and was either injured or scared, remaining in the ditch… but as we went back, we realised she wasn’t alone.
‘She was nursing her four newborn puppies, next to a bag, they were most probably dumped in.’
The mother dog was so frightened and cold that she could not even stand when rescuers approached her, and didn’t move when they picked her up to carry her to a vehicle.
A volunteer comforts the terrified mother as they pick the five puppies out of the ditch
Laura wrote: ‘What if we hadn’t have spotted her? What if we hadn’t have taken this road today?
‘Can’t bear to think of how they would have survived in the middle of nowhere, so cold, wet and hungry.’
They christened the mum Holly, and her babies Kim, Keith, Rosie and Rollo.
Then barely five minutes after picking up the mum and her young, footage shows the volunteers being left horrified again when they spot a black dog limping badly.
Then barely five minutes after picking up the mum and her young, footage shows the volunteers being left horrified again when they find a another litter of tiny dogs in a field
Laura, who moved from Northamptonshire to Romania to work with the dogs full time, said: ‘I checked and she had milk but the question was, where were her puppies?
‘Had she been dumped without them or were they close by waiting for her?
‘We each set off in search, to try to be as sure as possible that we weren’t leaving her babies behind.’
They found them huddled together in a field nearby. Miraculously, all five puppies were alive.
Rescuers named the first mother they found Holly, and after nursing them back back to health reunited her with her puppies Keith, Kim, Rosie, and Rollo
A vet confirmed that the mother’s leg was badly broken in two places and would need to be amputated once she was stronger.
The very next day, volunteers found a third litter of abandoned puppies – this time in a cardboard box without their mother.
Sadie’s Stray Dog Rescue was set up by a Lesley Ford, 52, who saw the plight of stray dogs while travelling.
She went to help a public shelter and started spaying and neutering dogs for free, as many locals can’t afford the service, before launching her own shelter to take in the hundreds of strays.
Lesley, who manages the rescue charity on top of her full-time work as a business consultant, said: ‘It seems shocking but what has really been shocking to us is the attention it has got’
‘Every day we pick them up. Often puppies are dumped on their own, but in this case the mothers were dumped with them.’ Pictured: The second mother with her pups
Lesley, who manages the rescue charity on top of her full-time work as a business consultant, said: ‘It seems shocking but what has really been shocking to us is the attention it has got. To us it’s not unusual.
‘Every day we pick them up. Often puppies are dumped on their own, but in this case the mothers were dumped with them.
‘Generally the dogs are just left to die in appalling conditions.’
At any given time, the charity has as many as 150 puppies in its rescue centre, and most find new homes in the UK, Belgium, Germany or the Netherlands. Some get fostered locally until they can find a forever home.
They are now looking for homes for all the puppies and their mums, who have been vaccinated and given worm and flea medication.