Video of shelter staff recovering the dogs shows a Rhodesian Ridgeback mix trembling next to her puppies.
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"She was terrified, she didn't know what was going on, obviously she was completely confused," said Joanne Langman of SPCA Westchester.
The mom, named Nora, was leashed to and dragging a carrier with two of her babies inside while the other two puppies were left in an unsecured cardboard box.
The SPCA says a car sped away from the facility which was closed to the public at the time, and while it appeared the owner tried to do the right thing by bringing the dogs to the shelter rather than abandoning them somewhere else, it was still a less-than-ideal way to handle the situation.
"Two people got out of a car, they had a box that they put down, then the next thing you know, they saw someone taking a dog out," Langman said. "I guess they assumed maybe they were going to see if we were open, maybe to adopt, I don't know what they thought."
Fortunately, workers were still there and began comforting the dogs.
The SPCA staff and volunteers took their time to get a leash on Nora and were able to get the family inside before they ran away and were injured.
"Something much more tragic could have happened had nobody been here, or if no one was able to secure and she ran around with those babies with the box attached to her," Langman said.
The shelter says the four puppies, believed to be a couple months old, are healthy and now in foster to adopt homes, but Nora, who is 2 or 3 years old, is still recovering.
They say Nora is still a bit skittish, but is becoming more social and has gained some weight.
"It's a long road for her, I think to get over the shock of everything that's happened," Langman said. "Puppies are more resilient, but she is making progress and that's what we want to see."
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They're asking anyone who thinks they would be a good match to foster Nora to contact them.
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