Earlier this month, a driver on a rural Missouri road pulled over when she saw something odd: a woman looking through an old suitcase.
The concerned driver got out to help the woman and saw that the suitcase was full of puppies.
Four 8-week-old puppies had been zipped inside, left on the side of the road to fend for themselves.
The woman took one puppy home, while the driver stayed with the rest of the pups and called the sheriff’s office and Ozarks Pet Rescue for help.
“In that area, if you’re sitting on the road, you’re either dumping [something] or you’re broken down,” Tanya Meeks, president and cofounder of Ozarks Pet Rescue, told The Dodo. “They would have died … if nobody found that suitcase.”
The Howell County Sheriff’s Office told The Dodo that although the suitcase had a name painted on it, they are still investigating and haven’t made any arrests yet.
When Meeks arrived at the scene, the tiny babies looked “surprisingly very healthy.”
“They were very, very fat,” she said. “No fleas, no ticks, a little dirty, you know, but that’s expected.”
All boys, the brothers were shy — at first.
“They just went through a traumatic event,” Meeks said. While she worked on securing foster homes, the driver offered to watch the puppies for a few hours. Soon enough, they were up to typical puppy antics.
“They’re definitely purebred Labrador retrievers,” Meeks said. “Like, so energetic … very friendly, very loving.”
Several days after the puppies settled into their foster homes, Meeks got a call that another baby was found in the same area as the suitcase puppies. An 8-week-old male Labrador retriever with a sleek black coat.
Meeks, convinced he is from the same litter as the others, was grateful he found his way to her. Now, all four puppies are in foster homes, going on vet visits to get up to date on their vaccinations and soaking up all the playtime and affection they deserve.
“I’m hoping that they find amazing homes,” Meeks said. “And I’m really hoping that they get justice.”
