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Police Searching for ‘Low Life' Who Dumped Bag of Puppies Into River

The puppies will be cared for by a professional until they're old enough to be adopted

Calling it a "heinous" act, authorities in Massachusetts said they're looking for a "low life" who dumped a bag full of puppies in a river.

Uxbridge police said the six puppies were left for dead sometime between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Sunday after being tied up in a grain bag and dumped in the Blackstone River near River Road. They were rescued by kayakers.

"They are all doing well, considering the circumstances, and we believe they will all survive," the department said in a Facebook post.

"It's unconscionable that someone would do that - take six fairly newborn puppies and discard them in a body of water," Uxbridge Police Chief Jeffrey Lourie said.

"I think it's terrible. There's so many other things you could do without having to go to that extreme of trying to kill puppies," added Suzanne Lytwynec of Uxbridge, who owns a dog of her own.

Amazingly, Lourie said the puppies were spotted floating down the river, likely shortly after they were dumped.

"Two kayakers came across and rescued them. They heard the puppies whimpering in a potato sack and came to their rescue," he said.

One of the puppies that was on the bottom of the bag had quite a bit of water in his lungs.

"Up until this morning, he was still pushing mud out of his nose," Uxbridge Animal Control Officer Kevin Sullivan said.

The puppies will be cared for by a professional until they're old enough to be adopted, probably in a few weeks.

"Very sweet dogs. They're eventually going to turn out to be great house pets," Sullivan said.

Police said they are looking to speak with a male who was seen on a mountain bike in the area of River Road around the time they believe the puppies were dumped.

PETA has offered up to a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible for the act.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact Uxbridge Police Officer Benjamin Smoot at 508-278-7755.

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