Police are looking to find who is responsible for abandoning nine puppies discovered in a five-gallon bucket near a Clark, New Jersey intersection this week.
One of the puppies had died by the time it reached the Associated Humane Societies, the group said. The other eight were all malnourished, freezing, dehydrated and infested with fleas when they were found on Thursday, it said.
The surviving puppies have been placed into foster care, where they will remain until they are 2 months old and available for adoption, the group said.
The puppies were rescued shortly after 4 p.m. on Thursday after someone reported a bucket seen moving near the intersection of Raritan Road and Frances Drive in Clark, according to the Associated Humane Societies.
“Their condition is serious, but we’re doing everything we can to give them the chance they deserve,” the group’s CEO, Jerry Rosenthal, said in a statement.
The Clark Police Department is asking anyone with information to contact it at 732-388-3434 or email Detective Paul Sosnowski at [email protected]. The Associated Humane Societies is also asking for donations via GiveCloud.co to help provide medical treatment and other supplies to take care of the puppies.
Clark police referred questions to the department’s chief, who didn’t return a message Friday.