A litter of pugs — who were left in a dumpster behind a Taco Bell when they were “only hours old” — are now looking for their forever homes.
Back in December 2024, a woman came into the Helen Woodward Animal Center in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., with the small animals after she had “been handed a bag by an unhoused individual who had found them when looking through a dumpster,” according to a press release from the organization shared with PEOPLE.
The woman initially went to a veterinarian, per the release, but opted to ask the Helen Woodward Animal Center for aid once it became clear that she would be unable to take on the around-the-clock bottle-feeding requirements for the pups.
The center “had bottle-feeding foster families ready to pick the puppies up, along with a string of Center veterinary visits lined up for the many weeks ahead,” the release explained, and the location took over care of the infant animals.
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“On the first day we saw them, we had no idea what breed they were,” Helen Woodward Animal Center Adoption Services Director Kendall Schulz said in a statement. “We labeled them ‘terrier blends’ but they were so tiny and new, we knew that they could be just about anything.”
“When any litter that young arrives seeking care, we know how fragile they are and our primary concern simply becomes doing everything we can to save their lives,” she continued.
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Over the first few weeks of care, one of the dogs died after it “was too weakened by its tragic start,” the animal center said.
The rest of the pups were then deemed “the rainbow puppies,” the center said, with each dog assigned a name tied to the colors of the rainbow — Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet.
The seven rescued pug puppies are now available for adoption at the Helen Woodward Animal Center on a first-come-first-served basis.
“The Helen Woodward Animal Center values every life. We are incredibly grateful for the time we have spent to save this sweet family,” the organization said.
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