Intrigued to see such a young puppy all alone, Zully got out of her car. At that moment, the little animal looked at her, turned around, and trotted purposefully towards an old sofa that had been dumped amongst the rubbish on the roadside.
As she followed, the driver got a shock. “At first I saw two puppies on the sofa, then as I got closer, I saw there were three, and then even more... There were seven puppies in total,” she recounted emotionally. The first puppy had taken it upon itself to go and find help, leading her straight to its siblings.
In critical condition amongst the rubbish
Although the seven little creatures immediately started wagging their tails with joy upon seeing Zully, their physical condition was alarming. The puppies had been surviving by eating the rubbish scattered on the ground. “Their skin was in a terrible state, the poor babies must have been scratching constantly,” the rescuer recalled. “There was no way I was leaving them there. They were so vulnerable, so small. They were starving.”
Zully, who is used to helping stray animals in this area known for its high number of abandonments, was worried she would have to chase after seven puppies to get them into her van. But against all odds, the task proved to be surprisingly easy. At her signal, the whole gang came running to climb into the air-conditioned car, as if they knew their rescue had arrived.
On the road to a well-deserved recovery
After searching the area in vain for the puppies' mother, Zully concluded that the litter had been cruelly dumped there without her. She immediately put out a call for help on social media, which the charities Who Rescued Who Texas and Puppy Mill Rescue Team answered without hesitation.
A foster family rushed the little survivors to the vet, where their medical check-up revealed a long list of problems: a severe form of mange, broken teeth for some (likely from chewing on hard or metal rubbish to stave off hunger), and one even had a wound that looked like a snake bite.
Today, the entire litter is finally safe and receiving the care they need. Their recovery is well underway, and it would never have been possible without the courage of the little black puppy who dared to stop a car to save its family.