The abandonment of more than a dozen puppies on a street in Rahway, New Jersey, has turned into a criminal investigation, with police searching for the person who left the young dogs behind. The four-month-old pups were discovered roaming through a neighborhood after being dumped on the side of the road, prompting a rescue effort and a hunt for whoever was responsible.
According to accounts of the incident, a vehicle came driving up a dead-end stretch of the street, stopped for only a few seconds, then made a U-turn and left. What was left behind was a group of puppies with no one to care for them, suddenly on their own along the roadway in the middle of a residential area.
Neighbors and animal workers responded to find the dogs wandering the street. Animal control arrived to take the puppies in, and workers began the process of caring for them and lining up places for them to go, stepping in quickly to make sure the young animals were safe after being left to fend for themselves.
By the time they were in safe hands, the outlook for the puppies had brightened considerably. Officials said the dogs received all of their shots and everything they needed health-wise, and animal workers set about finding foster homes for them, turning an act of abandonment into a rescue with a hopeful ending for the pups.
For investigators, however, the case is far from closed. Abandoning the puppies is now a criminal investigation, and Rahway police said they are trying to track down the driver of an SUV that was spotted on the street just before the puppies were left behind, treating the vehicle as a key lead.
Police said they are working with the clues available to them as they try to identify the driver and hold whoever is responsible to account. In the meantime, the rescued puppies remained the bright spot in the story, cared for and awaiting foster homes while the search for the person who abandoned them continued.