LANCASTER COUNTY -- A Lancaster County animal shelter is saluting a pair of Good Samaritans who found a pregnant boxer dog on the side of the road in the middle of delivering a litter of puppies and brought her in to receive veterinary assistance.
Pet Pantry of Lancaster co-founder and medical director Dr. Bryan Langlois said the boxer had already delivered four puppies when a woman and her daughter found her in the area of Field of Screams in Mountville, West Township around 8:00 p.m.
A West Hempfield Township Police officer transported the dog to Pet Pantry, while the woman and her daughter rounded up the four puppies who had already been born, Langlois said.
As the officer was driving to Pet Pantry, located on Millersville Road a few miles from where she was found, the boxer gave birth to a puppy in the back of the police vehicle, according to Langlois.
After arriving at Pet Pantry, the dog gave birth to four more puppies, one of which was stillborn, Langlois said. A second puppy did not survive the night, according to Langlois.
The other seven puppies -- five males and two females -- are fine, he said.
"Mom is a champ," Langlois said in a press release. "She knows just what to do, and that makes our job a whole lot easier here."
Langlois said the mother dog was anxious and nervous when she arrived at Pet Pantry.
"She was carrying her just-born pup in her mouth, and was looking for some place safe to take it," he said. "We quickly got her inside and set up in a nice warm room with blankets and her puppies. She was not in the best of condition, being thin and suffering from a pretty severe flea burden, but she settled right in.”
The mother dog and her pups will be sent to a foster home after they clear a medical examination, Langlois said. The puppies will not be available for adoption for two or three months.
Anyone wishing to donate funds to help care for the care of mom and pups can do so through the Pantry’s “Adley’s Animal Rescue Fund,” which can be found on Pet Pantry's website.
