Foster parent Cathy Spector holds Diva, one of the six surviving Dumpster Puppies for which she and her husband, Larry, cared.
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — The barely born puppies abandoned 10 weeks ago in a trash bin have found permanent homes throughout the Reno-North Tahoe region.
“It’s an amazing level of satisfaction to see them go from extremely sick, tiny creatures to healthy, happy animals that the whole community is interested in providing a forever home,” said Becky Goodman, executive director of Pet Network Humane Society in Incline Village.
Pet Network received between 60 to 75 adoption applications from across the United States for Reggie, Dobbs, Diva, Maisie, Otter and Bandit, Goodman said, with the goal of placing them in local, loving homes.
“Given the amount of effort that the staff has put in and our fosters have put in, what we’re hoping is to keep them local enough that we can continue to see them on a regular basis,” Goodman said at a Sunday community reception at Pet Network.
The puppies became members of the community on July 23, when they were rushed to Pet Network after a unnamed Good Samaritan found the hours-old animals in a South Lake Tahoe trash bin.
Pet Network staff and volunteers along with volunteer foster parents provided around-the-clock care to the 10 puppies that came in. Only six survived.
“We set our clock every night, all night long for every two hours,” recalled Cathy Spector, a foster parent, along with her husband, Larry. “Every two hours (we) had to run downstairs, make formula, warm it up, feed them … We also had to burp them.
“I was wiped out (from) those five weeks, but it was wonderful.”
On Sunday, the six puppies were healthy and playful, running around and approaching individuals in a crowd of about 45 who came to see them.
“The dogs are just so loving,” said Incline Village resident Donovan Anthony, who was interested in adopting. “They just go up to everyone, greeting everyone.
“You can just tell from having them in foster homes that they’ve been already to this point raised really well, and they’re really well-mannered around people and around other dogs.”
With preliminarily DNA results revealing the six puppies are a doberman/border collie mix, Goodman said they will remain active and will likely grow to be mid-sized dogs, hovering around 60 pounds. Today, each are about 20 pounds.
By Friday, the puppies will be in their permanent homes in Incline Village, Tahoe Vista, Truckee and Reno, Goodman said.
“Our primary hope is that they live the happiest and longest lives possible due to how theirs started — being discarded with trash at birth,” she said.