Three female German shepherd puppies, sisters, have a new lease on life after being pulled from a dumpster in San Dimas on Sunday.
The rescue began when a local bakery employee went outside for a break and heard puppies crying. He traced the whimpering sounds to a nearby business complex on the 900 block of North Cataract Avenue and pulled the starving pups, who were covered in filth, from the trash heap.
“I don’t think there is anything that can justify or give a reason as to why they were dumped in the trash,” Carolyn Castro, a good Samaritan and admin on a Facebook group called “Lost and Found pets of La Verne and San Dimas,” told KTLA.
Castro said that one of the puppies was underneath the dumpster when the worker found them.
“She must have hopped out,” she said. “She nipped his leg to, like, tell him, ‘Hey, my sisters are in there.’”
Once the worker had wrangled three pooches, he posted a call for help on the Facebook group, Lost and Found Pets of La Verne and San Dimas, where Castro learned about the abandoned sisters.
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Three puppies get bathed and sheltered by good samaritans after they were found abandoned in a dumpster on Sunday. September 2024. (Carolyn Castro) -
Three puppies get bathed and sheltered by good samaritans after they were found abandoned in a dumpster on Sunday. September 2024. (Carolyn Castro) -
An employee found three puppies in a San Gabriel Valley dumpster on his work break and helped start their rescue. September 2024. (Carolyn Castro)
It’s unclear exactly how long the dogs had been in and around the dumpster, but Castro said they were definitely hungry. She also said they were covered in ticks and fleas and were weak from dehydration.
“So, we brought them to Village Mutt, bathed them, got the ticks off them and treated them,” she explained.
The three German shepherd pups are now on their way to recovery and hopefully, new homes.
April Bank, owner of the Village Mutt, said she’s offering support to anyone who adopts one of the puppies.
“I’m offering three months of food for them and then six months of baths,” she told KTLA’s John Fenoglio. “We have a self-dog wash here. So, they’ll be clean for at least six months.”
In the meantime, Castro is on the hunt for answers and plans to review as much surveillance video as she can to uncover the identity of the person who threw away the three pups.
“Putting them in the trash, it’s an evil person, and I hope there’s video footage,” she said. “I hope somebody knows something where it can be brought to light, so these dogs get justice.”
All three of the puppies are around three months old, according to Castro, each one with a sweet disposition despite such a hard start in life.
Anyone who would like to adopt one of the puppies or support their foster care can check out Big Dog Haven Rescue or contact Village Mutt in Claremont.
KTLA Digital Producer Lily Dallow contributed to this report.