Litter of tiny abandoned puppies finds homes after Arkansas community steps up

Officer Chace Hunton with the Little Rock Police Department was looking into reports of possible trespassing at an abandoned Arkansas apartment building last month when he heard muffled squeals.

Curious, he began to investigate where the noises were coming. He then found a litter of tiny blond, brindle and black puppies. They appeared to be orphaned or abandoned with no mama dog in sight and no people in the area, either.

"He thought to himself, 'I can't just leave them here,' so he scooped them up, put them in a box, and took them home," Best Friends Animal Society CEO Julie Castle told USA TODAY this week.

When he got home with the pups, his wife Hannah sprang into action, calling her friends in Little Rock and rallying the community.

"And sure enough, people answered the call, and it was like this puppy coalition had been formed in Little Rock," Castle said. "All these folks stepped up and raised their hands and wanted to foster and save the lives of these animals."

'Community effort'

The incident became a "community effort," Castle said as everyone stepped up to rescue the puppies, who appeared to be only a few days old, weighing less than a pound.

"It was one of those things where, you know, nobody knows how to bottle feed a puppy until you have to," Castle said, adding the puppies were initially so tiny, they had to be fed with eyedroppers.

Hunton initially reached out to a local animal shelter in Little Rock asking for help with the animals and to check if anyone had reported missing puppies. But the shelter was at capacity and unable to take in the litter, so the family decided to foster the pups, who would need bottle-feeding every few hours to keep them alive.

Hannah Hunton then reached out to her sister, who works at Best Friends Animal Society in Bentonville, about three hours north of Little Rock. Shelton joined the effort, too, gathering supplies including bottles and food.

Best Friends, which aims to end the euthanasia of dogs and cats in America’s shelters and make the country no-kill in 2025, guided Hannah and the community on how to care for the young pups and arranged vet visits and testing to make sure they were healthy.

Neighbors step in

Laura Jones was home studying when she got Hannah's text for help, Jones told Best Friends.

“I had never done anything like this before, but Hannah sounded desperate,” Jones said. “I volunteered to help bathe and feed the puppies, and when I arrived, I could see there was a lot to be done.”

Meanwhile, as Hannah's text blast gained momentum, a neighborhood puppy care coalition began to take shape as more people stopped by. While some people brought in food and supplies for the puppies, others stepped in to support Hannah in feeding and bathing the pups.

Round-the-clock care for the puppies continued for two days and two nights at Hannah and Chace's house before the group decided to make things simpler, and allow Hannah some sleep, by dividing the litter into groups of two and three and sending them to foster homes, where they were cared for until they became healthy and old enough to be adopted.

"When you have a situation like this where you have 11 puppies in need, the whole community pulls together to help, and people forget about their differences," Castle said. "They are just focused on saving these innocent lives."

"It's just such a cool demonstration of our best selves as Americans," she added.

Despite everyone’s best efforts, two of the puppies sadly passed away due to health issues. Best Friends told USA TODAY that with larger litters, it is not uncommon for a few runts to be too weak to survive.

Nine pups adopted

The other nine pups grew up healthy and strong. While seven of them were eventually adopted by families in Little Rock, two of them went to an organization in Chicago and were adopted there, Best Friends said.

Jones, who fostered two of the pups, Winston (Winnie) and Gilbert (Gibbie), told Best Friends her volunteer experience, which became a seven-week commitment, was worth it in the end.

“The whole experience tugged on my heartstrings for sure,” she said. “They didn’t even weigh half a pound when I got them. I had to feed them with an eye dropper for a few days. And I cried when Gibbie got picked up for adoption.”

Jones adopted Winnie, while Gibbie was adopted by two police officers in Little Rock. Winnie, however, has found a new playmate in Jones' 4-year-old dog, Kallie.

“They play together so well,” Jones shared. “Winnie is also very smart and has already learned to sit, shake hands, and he’s figured out the doggy door."

Castle said she was overwhelmed with joy seeing the puppies healthy and happy in their forever homes.

"Newborn puppies are so vulnerable," Castle said. "He (Hunton) was in the right place at the right time and did the right thing. The right thing is to really just save their lives and lean into the opportunity to get the puppies adopted and safe into a home."

This story was updated to fix an error.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tiny abandoned puppies find homes after Arkansas community steps up