It was the quick thinking of a maintenance worker at a Richardson apartment complex that no doubt saved the lives of two puppies that were thrown in the apartment trash chute.
It was the quick thinking of a maintenance worker at a Richardson apartment complex that no doubt saved the lives of two puppies that were thrown in the apartment trash chute.
“A true series of miracles occurred on Tuesday, September 7th, when a maintenance worker at a local Richardson apartment was walking down the complex hallway and briefly heard an odd noise come from the trash chute,” Mary Lovell with the Richardson Animal Shelter said. “He recalls the day of the week well, as their trash pick-up days are Mondays – through the 6th happened to be a city holiday, so the bins had not been serviced yet. This was the first miracle.”
The worker found three puppies that day. One of which was badly hurt.
“They were wrapped in a plastic bag and tossed down the chute, meaning they had fallen multiple stories. The complex has an automatic trash compactor that compresses the trash once it reaches its location. The worker said the bag of puppies was just inches from the compactor. Their bag would’ve been crushed had one more resident tossed their trash down the chute, which was another miracle,” Lovell said.
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The puppies were rushed to the Richardson Animal Shelter where they immediately were cared for.
“They were stabilized to the best of our ability, then taken into foster care with one of our most experienced fosters. She is a Texas certified wildlife rehabber, often taking on the most difficult cases of fragile orphaned lives. Her passion and skillset alone are a blessing to our department. Though she specializes in wildlife, her years of experience with such delicate lives made her the best person for the job. She admits that she never says no to a challenge – so she was eager to give this a shot, though their chances of survival were slim,” Lovell said.
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Lovell said one of the puppies didn’t make it, unfortunately, as the injuries were just too bad.
For the next eight weeks, the two remaining puppies were nursed back to health.
“They recently came back to our facility, where they were spayed and neutered, vaccinated, microchipped, and placed up for adoption. A wonderful family came along the very next day, heard their story, and decided to adopt both puppies – so that they could live out the rest of their lives together, in a home that was committed to loving them every step of the way,” Lovell said. “Our Richardson community truly came together for these dogs – and we are encouraged that we get to work alongside our neighbors in protecting and serving the animals in our city. It truly takes a village.”
Lovell said an investigation into what happened was started in hopes of finding the person responsible for dumping the puppies, but there were no cameras in the hallways or stairwells to catch the person who dumped the bag with the puppies. She said because of that, they were not able to press charges.
While they wanted to find the person who is responsible, Lovell said she is just thankful the remaining puppies have an incredible and loving family that will love them.
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