A pair of puppies found dumped in the trash are still waiting to find forever homes of their own.
Christmas is increasingly a time for giving when it comes to our pets. A survey of 2,000 pet owners conducted by OnePoll on behalf of MetLife Pet Insurance found 54 percent of respondents were planning on feeding their four-legged friends more treats while 31 percent were going to take them out on more walks over the festive period.
However, for some, it's also a time when everything they thought they knew and trusted about their lives is taken away. That proved to be the case for Sun, the yellow pup and her black coated sibling Luna, two puppies who ended up at Triple A Shelter, an animal rescue based in the Costa del Sol region of Spain over the festive break.
Their story first came to light when Triple A shared a heartbreaking 10-second on their TikTok of the two pups explaining that the pair had been "thrown away in the trash on Christmas Eve."
"These babies were brought to us by a man who said he found them in the trash," Angelika Kusanova, Head of Adoptions at the shelter told Newsweek. "For someone they were leftovers, just dumped like trash."
To some people the idea of two defenseless young animals being abandoned in such a callous way might be too much to bear. Yet to the staff at Triple A, it's nothing out of the ordinary.
"Heartbreakingly, this is so common here in our area, that we are not even surprised anymore," Kusanova said. "The situation of animal welfare is so bad, that all that's left over, is to be thankful that the babies make their way to our shelter, because many of them don't make it here."
Despite everything they have been through Sun and Luna are happy-go-lucky puppies, full of energy and eager for affection. "They love running after your feet and pulling your shoe strings," Kusanova said. "When you pick them both up in either of your arms and hold them like babies, then they become calm and fall asleep on your lap."
They may only be puppies, but Kusanova said everyone has been impressed at the "balanced energy" the dogs have shown at such a young age."They love to play, but they take their rest time very seriously," she said.
Expected to grow to a medium but not large size by the time they become adults, Sun and Luna will eventually be put up for adoption
They will grow to be medium size, not very big and will be treated for worms and required to gain weight before they can find a forever home.
For now, though, it's about helping the puppies adjust to their new life. "It's important for puppies to be in the company of other dogs while they are growing up, to develop good canine social skills," Kusanova said. "So it's not ideal for puppies to go to their individual homes too early in life."
There's still a way to go, meaning more time at the shelter, but the hope is the puppies land a new home sooner rather than later.
English (US) ·