PLANT CITY, Fla. — Moments of desperation turn to happiness for a dog, her babies and the people trying to rescue them.
"They found her and they reunited her by luring her into the car with the babies. It was just the most beautiful, beautiful thing. Everybody was crying," April McNeely said speaking only to 10 Tampa Bay's Angelina Salcedo.
She runs the rescue now caring for 3-year-old Maya who was emaciated, injured and missing most of the babies in her litter. She and her puppies were thrown from a car and left to die.
"I've never met anyone, never met anybody that's this cruel," McNeely said.
She and her husband Brian now have all three at their rescue in Plant City named McNeely Farmily Rescue & Sanctuary.
April says the dogs were dumped on Valroy Road in Wimauma last Thursday. Six puppies were thrown from a moving car.
"Unfortunately, those puppies did not make it. They sustained injuries that you could not survive from being tossed," McNeely said.
But the two babies, a girl named Scarlet and a boy named Valentino, survived, only suffering soft tissue damage. They're named out of love with Valentine's Day in mind.
"We get the worst-case scenarios, but in this case, I don't even know how to describe that person. How can you do that? How can you do that? How can you take an animal and discard it like it's trash," McNeely said.
April says Valroy Road is notorious for dumping and her team members who help rescue animals always find at least one dog there.
"We don't love saying what roads dogs are dumped on because then it gives somebody who wants to dump a dog later a dumping road. However, we're promoting this for awareness, so hopefully, they don't go down that road. The team member that lives down there has saved 27 dogs from being dumped down there in just a few years," McNeely said.
In this situation, the little ones left are lucky to be alive.
"Prosecution is ultimately what everybody wants out of this. This could have ended ultimately in all of their deaths. It's a horrible crime and I'm not in policing, so I can't even state off what it really is, but to me, this is severely punishable," McNeely said.
That's why they're searching for her owner and asking the community in Wimauma for help. April believes Maya is a local dog and is familiar with the area where she was dumped.
"We just want and need justice for Maya. I hope it stops and it doesn't happen anymore. This is the second time this has happened. Last time I was called out to Lakeland for this same thing. There were no survivors in that case," McNeely said.
Maya and her puppies have a follow-up appointment at the vet in a few days. She'll also need surgery once she's healthy again. If you'd like to support the rescue you can here. If you have any information that could lead to finding Maya's owner please contact McNeely Farmily Rescue & Sanctuary.