3-week-old puppies tossed from car near Mission Viejo animal shelter soon to be adoptable

Abandoned newborn puppies rescued

A man is facing charges for allegedly throwing 10 puppies out of his car in Mission Viejo. Now the puppies have been rescued.

MISSION VIEJO, Calif. - A man is facing potential animal cruelty charges after he allegedly dumped 10 puppies out of his car in Mission Viejo last month, just down the road from an animal shelter.

It happened on July 21. Officials with the Mission Viejo Animal Services Center said a man pulled up in his car around 2:30 a.m. and tossed the puppies out of the back of his car, into the bushes. The man dumped the puppies just down the road from the center.

A dog walker at the center found the 3-week-old puppies hours later in a puppy pool, and brought them to the shelter.

Because abandoning an animal is a criminal offense, the Mission Viejo Police started investigating. Lt. Kyle Warner said that the team, "reviewed the surveillance video from our shelter. You can see the driver get out, take the pool out of the truck and place it in the bushes." And, according to Warner, the pool was tossed where there are regularly coyotes. Thankfully, the volunteer found them before the coyotes spotted them.

That video has not been released because it's part of the investigation.

Using that surveillance footage, investigators tracked down the truck and the suspect. They also got the puppies' mom from the suspect's condo, and she was reunited with her pups at the shelter.

The puppies were found on National Ice Cream Day, so they were named after ice cream flavors like Ripple, Butterscotch, Chip, Caramel, Cookie Dough, Chocolate and more.

August 19 is a big day for Chocolate and his siblings. That's the day they'll be spayed and neutered, and after that they'll be available for adoption. The process for that begins on their website, where you'll find an application. For now, though, they are being fostered by people like Briana Dorn of Mission Viejo.

"They're just helpless little puppies and for them to have left in this condition it's so sad," Dorn said. "It's heartbreaking."

As for the suspect who dumped the puppies Warner says the department hasn't filed charges yet. But when they do, Warner said they'll file with the Orange County District Attorney's Office. The suspect, Warner said, could face "misdemeanor animal abandonment, potentially animal cruelty charges and animal cruelty charges for letting animals go without care."

If you're interested in adopting one of the puppies or the mom, you can apply at cmvas.org.