ENMU employees Wendy Turner and Jana Small came to the rescue.
"I got a call telling me, 'The weirdest thing is happening at Steve Loy Family Foundation Arena. We have a dog that is giving birth to puppies,' and I asked, 'On the main gym floor'?"
Small explained, "On the way I was calling my husband saying please bring a crate, we have a dog giving birth to puppies in the Arena. When I got there she had already given birth to two puppies, then she gave birth to another six."
While waiting for the campus police or animal control to show up, Small contacted vets and rescue organizations in an attempt to find someone to take care of the dog. She found luck with Cindy's Hope for Precious Paws, a 501c3 nonprofit rescue organization that operates in Portales and Clovis.
Turner, who works with Cindy's Hope for Precious Paws arrived.
"I'm on my way talking to them on the phone and they told me animal control is here and I said do not let animal control take them. They're fine and dandy but they're not set up for mamas and puppies. It's really hard on the puppies when they're there, but animal control is great.
"When I got there animal control left. The mama was very nervous and there was a lot of people around her and that's not very good for a mama dog who's giving birth," explained Turner.
Small said that they were able to pet and love on her to keep her calm. After she finished giving birth Turner was able to get the puppies and the mama in her car to take her to a foster for Cindy's Hope for Precious Paws.
"She's doing great. She had a total of eight, three ended up dying. We have five babies and they're doing very well. She's not a great mom, but she's awfully young; we think she might be a year if even that.
"She gets along with the other dogs, however, she doesn't like the other dogs around her puppies. Once she's outside with them she's fine. But most mama dogs don't like other dogs with their puppies at all. So I cover their crate. She steps on them and I tell her, 'No don't step on the babies.' They're just so cute; we have three boys and two girls," explained Turner.
According to Small, someone pulled up to the Arena and dropped the dog off.
"I'm assuming that the people who put her out where the owners, so you have a dog that was just abandoned by its parents, something is going on in your body that you're not completely sure about, and you're in a strange place with strange people and loud noises.
"What gets me is she went inside Steve Loy Family Foundation Arena towards the loud noises to get help instead of finding a corner to go and have puppies because usually dogs will go somewhere dark and sheltered. This dog went to where there were people to have her puppies to say, 'Hey I need help' or something," said Small.
The mama dog is a talker, said Turner. "At first when I got her I thought she was growling at me, but she wasn't. I wondered, 'Do I put my hand in the cage with your puppies or do I not?' So, finally I opened the cage and sat down by her and she came over and put her head in my lap and continued talking. She just wants to be loved."
They have a foster willing to take her and the puppies.
Turner explained that their rescue will not pull just the mama or puppies -- both must be taken by the foster.
"It shocked me because usually dogs that are that big give birth to bigger puppies. These puppies were the size of kittens; they were tiny," said Turner.
Due to the size of the puppies they had some concern that they might be premature, labor potentially induced by the stress of being abandoned. However, they are growing steadily and healthily.
"It was neat to have ENMU employees Lora Ferguson and Jade Tallon helping to take care of an innocent body," said Small. "The dog was having puppies, and we just had an ENMU family that was taking care of this terrified dog."
Turner said, "If you can't take care of your dog take it to the shelter. It has a chance. It's fed, it's watered, has shelter, can be adopted, or pulled by a rescue. This dog could've been hit, someone could have found it and not wanted to take care of the puppies and left them.
"There are worse things that can happen than being brought to the shelter. I mean being put to sleep is not the worst thing to happen; it sounds awful but it's the truth," said Turner.
She said for every stray animal to have a home, each person would have to have around seven animals. An average family is around four people, and four times seven, that's a lot of animals in a household.
"It's just not feasible for every animal to make it. But if every animal was spayed or neutered it wouldn't come to that," said Turner.
"Animals are an eighteen-year plus commitment. If you're not willing to commit to a whole life of raising a pet, you don't need it. If you're not willing to make that commitment you don't need an animal of any kind," said Small.
They also emphasized the importance of getting your pets their shots and micro-chipping them and keeping that information up to date so you have a higher chance of getting them back.
You can visit Cindy's Hope for Precious Paw's Facebook page to learn more about their organization. They rescue animals and also help by posting lost/found ads of animals in the area.
Their organization's goal is to keep animals in the area out of high kill shelters and try to help every animal they can. They believe in working together to help animals in need.
Animal Protection of New Mexico has a list of Spay-Neuter Resources in New Mexico that are low-cost or no-cost programs.
If you're unsure about the importance of spaying and neutering here are some organizations explaining the benefits:
The Humane Society of the United States
Here are some resources about micro-chipping your animal:
