The smell was unbearable.
When a young girl brought four puppies she found in a field into the Cambridge and District Humane Society last week, they reeked of urine, feces and were covered in mats.
"The stench was so strong and to touch them left a film on the animal care staff’s hands," Michelle Gellatly, executive director of the Cambridge and District Humane Society said.
The first order of business was getting them cleaned up and assessing their overall condition, which the humane society turned to New Approach Canine Training Academy on Sheldon Drive to help them do.
Aside from the odour and the mats, the puppies were in relatively good shape.
Having been spayed or neutered and vaccinated this week, the next step is preparing them for adoption.
As part of any adoption process, the staff at the humane society are monitoring their behaviour to ensure there are no issues with sending them to their forever homes.
From that perspective, they have no concerns.
While they won't be adopted out this week, there's a realistic possibility it could happen within the next seven to 10 days. Gellatly says there was already someone who saw the puppies at the groomers who expressed interest in them, which she isn't surprised about.
"They're absolutely beautiful," she said.
"They're happy and they haven't let what happened to them affect them."
As hard as her staff has worked, it's impossible for Gellatly to share this success story without mentioning the help of community partners and individual residents.
After putting out an ask for support, people have donated nearly $10,000 to assist with the animals' care.
"The community has been amazing," she said.
"I don't think there will be any problem adopting them."
Anyone interested in adopting one of the puppies can keep an eye on the Cambridge and District Humane Society adoptions page.
