When Jessie Shaw, cofounder of Fetch Dog Rescue in Westport, Connecticut, opened a message from her partners at Roadside Rescue Network in Mississippi, she wasn’t expecting to have her heart stop.
Attached was a single photo — a trash can left outside the rescue’s sanctuary. Inside, 11 tiny puppies were piled on top of each other, cold, soaked, and barely alive.
“[There] had been a very, very bad rainstorm,” Shaw told The Dodo. “And so the puppies were almost drowning.”
The babies — only a few weeks old — had been tossed away like garbage. When rescuers found them, the rainwater inside the bin was rising fast. Without hesitation, they reached in and pulled each trembling puppy to safety.
The puppies were rushed to a vet clinic, where they received warmth, fluids, and lifesaving care. Over the next few weeks, Roadside Rescue Network helped the fragile litter regain their strength — until they were healthy enough to begin new lives.
That’s when Shaw stepped in to help find them forever homes.
“I personally interviewed every single family that adopted them,” she said. “And I did home visits with them to make sure they were the perfect fit.”
Thanks to that care and commitment, all 11 puppies are now thriving with loving families — safe, warm, and adored.
But for Shaw, their rescue is more than a happy ending. It’s a reminder of how much work is still needed to prevent cruelty and neglect.
She hopes their story inspires more people to spay and neuter their pets — and for local governments to make it law.
“There's nothing better than seeing them happy,” Shaw said. “It makes me feel so grateful — and it gives me the motivation to keep going.”
To support dogs like these brave little survivors, you can donate to Fetch Dog Rescue or Roadside Rescue Network.
