Trio of puppies on the mend after being abandoned

SPRING HILL (FOX 13) - A trio of puppies were found abandoned on the side of the road. Now, a local humane society is trying to nurse them back to health.

The playful puppies are taking full advantage of the warm bed and colorful clothes the Humane Society of Pasco County is providing. On Christmas Eve, they were found abandoned alongside a dirt road in Dade City, hungry and huddled under a tree.

“We see it way too often it seems to be very easy for some people to just leave them,” says lead volunteer Christine Depaolo.

Depaolo and volunteers at the Humane Society took the pups in, and other than being on the skinny side she says the two girls are doing well. In fact one of them was already adopted.

Depaolo says success stories like these are what her group strives for.

“They really don't know how to be puppies right now so we try to play with them and encourage them,” she says.

But look beyond the wagging tails and cute faces, and you'll see the holes in the floor and chips in the paint of an aging facility.

“This trailer has been here about 30 years old,” said Depaolo. “The trailer was actually used when we got it.”

And those years show even more after a small electrical fire damaged the trailer just weeks ago, had it not been for a quick thinking volunteer Depaolo, the damage could have been deadly.

“We would have lost the whole trailer and our cats that were in here,” she said.

The group is only funded through community donations and because of the fire they had to stretch an already tight budget even thinner.

“At this point in time the trailer has become a priority to care for the animals to keep them safe,” she said.

During emergency situations like Hurricane Irma, all the cats and dogs had to find foster homes. and there was doubt if the animals would return at all.

“If Irma had hit us directly like it was supposed to this would have been gone,” said Depaolo.

The Humane Society counts on the community to help the animals. They have a Gofundme page to get a new trailer or possibly even get a concrete structure up, otherwise Depaolo says it'll be hard to give the animals the best care possible.

“We try to keep everybody comfortable it's really not an easy task,” she said.