Abandoned Anthony ‘puppies left to die’ will get new homes in the Midwest

ANTHONY, New Mexico -- A litter of "puppies left to die" in a box on the side of a road in Anthony this summer are now heading across the country to find new homes.

ABC-7 reported in August how the pups -- only weeks old -- were turned over to animal services officials in Dona Ana County and nurtured in foster homes.

The puppies are now healthy and ready for a new start.

"These are going to go to Monahans to spend the night, and tomorrow they'll be loaded in a big van to go to Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois," Diane Avery said. Avery has been caring for the pups and said it'll be easier to find them homes elsewhere.

"It's very hard around here. We try really hard to get them out of this area because Texas as a whole and New Mexico are not known for good animal care," she said.

Avery has a large barn that she uses to house abandoned animals until they can find permanent homes. She told ABC-7 she's probably cared for 300 puppies just this year and she isn't even a formal animal rescue operation.

"It's a very big problem. People just dump their pregnant dogs," she said, adding, "We've had at least three box loads this fall."

She wishes people would just spay and neuter their pets because even if unwanted pets are taken to shelters, she says they're over capacity.

"If they start euthanizing them, then everybody gets up in arms, like, 'You're killing all these healthy dogs.' But what do we do with them?" Avery said. "That's why we ship them out. That's our biggest goal is to get as many out of this area as we can."