Puppies Found ‘Freezing’ Beneath Abandoned Home Reunited With Mom

A litter of puppies rescued from the foundation of an abandoned house in freezing temperatures in Missouri have been reunited with their mom.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) estimates that, on any given day in the United States, there are around 70 million homeless cats and dogs struggling to survive.

It’s a struggle made that bit much harder when winter hits, bringing with it freezing temperatures and the potential for ice and snow. In recent weeks, Missouri has been one of several states to be issued with winter storm warnings that have brought extreme weather to the region and inhospitable conditions for those animals living as strays.

For one stray and her litter of puppies, these extreme conditions might have resulted in the unthinkable. But Michelle Lascon and the staff at KC Protective Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) had other ideas after receiving a tip about a litter of puppies “freezing” under a house.

“Someone had called saying that they lived next door to an abandoned house and a stray dog and her puppies were living in the crawlspace,” Lascon told Newsweek. “Animal control had been contacted but had not been out and with temperatures dropping the neighbors were getting concerned and did not have the ability to take the dogs in themselves.”

With another ice storm on the way, Lascon knew they “needed to act now” and headed to the address that had been provided to KC PAWS. She soon realized this would be no easy rescue.

“When I got to the house I could hear the puppies crying underneath, but they had no experience with human interaction so of course they weren’t going to just walk right up to me,” Lascon said. “The first puppy was close enough I was able to grab him, but that sent the others running as far under the house as they could go, so then the mission was on, and I knew I had to go in.”

Lascon contacted her friend Cassie, who works with the KC PAWS rescue partner group, Mid-America Bully Breed Rescue, to come out and provide assistance. What followed was a painstaking four-hour operation to retrieve the scared puppies from deep inside the crawlspace on one of the coldest days of the year.

“The crawl space was really tight and the puppies were small enough to easily move away from us while we struggled to move around using canned dog food to lure them to us,” Lascon said. “We got them out one-by-one over the course of a few hours, however the last puppy, now named Zion, really wanted to give us a run for our money and wedged himself behind the wooden boards that connected the front stairs to the house.”

Lascon added that although they were able to reach Zion, she ended in “the tightest area” of the crawl space where they could barely move. “I had to back out of the entire crawl space backwards, with the puppy in my arms, and not let him go, knowing that if I did, he’d take off and the chances we’d catch him again were slim to none,” she said.

A total of six puppies were rescued from the crawl space, but there was one problem still. “The momma dog was nowhere to be seen,” Lascon said. “With the temperatures dropping we had to act in the best interest of the puppies we did have at that moment. So we brought the pups back to the rescue to receive care, leaving food and blankets for mom hoping she’d return and we could catch her.”

Thankfully, within 24 hours, and with the help of KC Dog Trappers, the mom, who has since been christened Katmai, was safely trapped and brought to the rescue where she was reunited with her puppies.

“We believe the mom had been a stray for a while based on neighborhood reports,” Lascon said. “However she has warmed up quickly to our rescue staff and is clearly very smart and eager to learn and receive love.”

The puppies have gone from strength-to-strength since their rescue, though they have needed deworming and were put on a course of antibiotics for a cold, Lascon was full of praise for their mom, saying she “did a great job caring for them in those circumstances” and the crawlspace they lived in, while difficult to access, “likely saved them.”

The puppies are now a matter of weeks away from being available for adoption. “We have named this crew after National Parks because they look like little wolves and little bear cubs,” Lascon said. “We have the boys Zion, Yosemite, Kenai, and Denali, and the girls are Acadia, and Sequoia, and of course Mama Katmai who will also be available for adoption.”

Whatever the future holds for this reunited family, they are in safe hands with KC PAWS, which is a privately funded no-kill rescue that screens adopters and maintains contact with every one of its dogs even after they leave for a new forever home. Like many shelters though, to keep helping dogs like Katmai and her puppies, they need help too.

“We are always in need of donations for veterinary care, and desperately need more foster homes, so that we can help even more dogs each year, especially in the current animal welfare crisis,” Lascon said.