Driver rescues abandoned puppies found in ditch on County Road 21 in Essa Township

Four puppies were found near County Road 21 in Essa after a passerby spotted one when it ran out of the ditch and onto the road.

The out-of-town driver stopped to avoid hitting the pup and went looking to see if there were more, finding the other three.

The woman brought the animals to the Alliston and District Humane Society, where staff took the three females and one male in.

"The puppies were filthy dirty, and it took our dog people quite a while to get them cleaned up," wrote the Alliston shelter's president, Jane Clarke, in an email to CTV News.

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The puppies, believed to be roughly eight weeks old, have no microchips or tags, but appear to be in good health, staff said.

Shelter staff plan to get them checked by a vet and vaccinated soon.

"They look to be a mixed breed [but] it's very hard to determine that," Clarke noted.

Four mixed-breed, eight-week-old puppies were found near County Road 21 in Essa Township and surrendered to the Alliston & District Humane Society. (Source: Alliston & District Humane Society Lost and Found/Facebook)

The shelter president said incidents of animal abandonments are becoming more frequent, especially in rural areas.

"We've had other cases lately in Essa [including] two sets of dogs [that] were dumped at the roundabout in Essa by the township building," she stated. "This roundabout is a mighty dangerous place at certain times of day for dogs."

In both instances, Clarke said concerned passersby saw the dogs and brought them to safety.

The shelter urges the public to be watchful when travelling on rural roads, saying abandoned animals may be left in boxes, bags, or cages, often hidden out of sight.

"We had a case in the summer of 2023 where a small senior dog had been stuffed in a small wire cage during a heat wave and abandoned in a ditch. The passing driver who found the dog saw a glint of light off the wire cage and stopped to see what it was," Clarke recalled. "This dog is still alive and living her best life due to the sense of the driver who stopped to take a look."

Rising costs of pet food and veterinary care are resulting in a "steady string of abandonments of dogs and cats," the shelter president added.

Clarke said the strain on the shelter and rescue system makes it harder for people to find places to surrender animals, exacerbating the issue.

The humane society reminds the public to contact local shelters if they come across abandoned pets.