She Was Taken Away From Her Puppies And Left At A Shelter. Their Reunion Brought Me To Tears

A Pit Bull mix named Noelle was brought to a Canadian shelter by someone who said he had found her as a stray. Shelter staff suspected he was actually the owner.

Noelle’s mammary glands were engorged with milk, a sign that she had just given birth to puppies, but there was no litter in sight.

Noelle was dirty and showed signs of abuse. She was also dangerously undernourished for a nursing momma and suffering from anxiety and depression – likely from the sudden loss of her babies. The rescue group, K9 Crusaders pulled Noelle from the shelter and began the process of getting this sweet girl healthy. They wrote about Noelle’s fragile condition via their Facebook page:

“She arrived to us the following day and she was skin on bones…weighing in at just over 30lbs, at least 15-20 lbs shy of a healthy weight, and every single rib was easily visible. She had obviously been feeding her babies, but nobody had been feeding her.”

The K9 Crusaders conducted some online detective work to try to reunite Noelle and her missing pups. They soon found a lead – photos of Noelle in a car, her head held up for the camera by a mystery human. Could this be the person who turned Noelle over to the shelter? Could this photo have been taken on her final ride with her puppies before she was given up?

The amateur sleuths located a listing for puppies on an online sales forum. The listing included a photo of 8 beautiful Pit Bull mix puppies in a basket, and another photo of Noelle nursing them. The post claimed that the momma dog had died after giving birth. When the rescuers looked up the person who had posted the ad, they were not surprised that it turned out to be the very same man who abandoned Noelle at the shelter.

K9 Crusaders released the following post describing their efforts to reclaim Noelle’s puppies:

“Together, we worked through the night to save them all, by negotiating a mass purchase of the remaining 8 of her 9 puppies that had not yet sold. They were estimated to be barely 5-6 weeks old, far too young to be separated so suddenly from their mother. The owners of course, had no idea who we were, they just saw dollar signs and agreed to let us buy them up all at once with no questions asked”

Thanks to the above and beyond actions of one particular volunteer, K9 Crusaders reunited Noelle with her long lost babies just hours later – and just in time for the holidays!

“Following the advice of the authorities we successfully completed the purchase, and thanks to one very special volunteer, Noelle and her puppies were reunited only hours later. It was a moment NONE of us will forget.”

Below is a video of the heartwarming reunion.

The puppies, Annabelle, Mia, Oliver, Leia, Jake, Caro, Joey and Holly have all gone on to forever families as has Noelle! Noelle ended up with her foster family. The group says, “It seems she has wiggled her way into their hearts…so much so, that they have no doubt she is right where she belongs!”

What an incredible story. Share Noelle and her reunion with her puppies with your family and friends!