Four puppies -- abandoned and left for dead on Monday evening. One woman saw a man pull off the road near Interstate 10 and Rita Rd., let the four puppies out of the car, and drive away.
Two of them were found covered in more than a hundred bee stings, according to a veterinarian doctor at the Pima Animal Care Center, where they were brought. But it was too late for one of those puppies, who just recently was humanely euthanized. The other puppy -- just about 16 weeks old -- is getting the care it needs.
The search continues tonight for the remaining two missing puppies near the Pima County Fairgrounds.
The phenomenon is called puppy dumping -- and according to Sherry Fabrizio of Heartz4Pawz -- it's a serious problem here in Southern Arizona.
"They just toss them out of the car and leave," Fabrizio said. "And they just let them go."
Fabrizio believes the problem comes from a variety of angles -- but two of the biggest factors are a lack in education, and a lack of ethics.
"We call them backyard breeders," she said. "These are people that breed their dogs every heat season, over and over and over again, to sell for 200, 300, 350 dollars a piece, offering no vet care whatsoever."
Fabrizio and the P.A.C.C. are urging dog-owners to spay or neuter their animals to help out the issue. They both offer many ways to do so and will help get the process done.
"It's our responsibility to take care of the dogs," she said. "You don't want puppies? Spay and neuter."
