Two heartbreaking cases of puppies being tossed on the side of a road in Southern California are being investigated by animal control officials.
Both incidents took place in the town of Rubidoux, an hour and a half east of Los Angeles, outside the Sierra Pacific Furbabies animal shelter.
The founder of the rescue, David Loop, told ABC Los Angeles that many animals regularly appear at the door of his shelter.
‘Dogs and cats; we sort of suspected they were being dumped, but I never had any evidence of it,” Loop added.
Thanks to his security camera setup, Loop began capturing those heartlessly leaving animals on the road, including in March when he discovered a six-week-old puppy named Delilah trying to hide close to the shelter.
“I saw the vehicle stop. There was a little glitch in the camera because it stopped recording, but the man stopped in the street and the puppy was sitting there,” Loop told the station.
David Loop posted this video showing a Rottweiler he named Pebbles being abandoned by the side of a road
In a March 2023 video, Loop posted a video of a six-week-old puppy he named Delilah being abandoned close to his shelter
In a Facebook post, Loop said the puppy spent “24 hours in the cold and rain” before being rescued and that she was “confused.” After looking through the footage for 14 hours, Loop said he found the person who abandoned the puppy.
In the other incident, Loop discovered a female Rottweiler named Pebbles on his property. After finding the dog, Loop watched his videos.
The clip showed a silver car pulling up on the side of the road, a back door opens and the dog jumps to the side of the road. The car then speeds away.
“She was so lucky she didn’t get hit by a car and I’m actually glad she ran into my yard. The POS, pathetic mess of a human who dumped her, should be ashamed,” Loop wrote in a Facebook post.
“I hope everyone in the world shares this video so the world can see what this loser did to this poor innocent girl,” he added.
Delilah shown after being rescued. According to Loop, the dog spent 24 hours in the cold and rain before being found
Heartbreaking surveillance video shows Pebbles returning to where his owners left him
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Loop later speculated that Pebbles is pregnant.
Loop also encouraged those concerned for the animal’s welfare donate to his shelter. According to the shelter’s website, Loop focuses on rescuing cats and kittens.
The incidents are being investigated by the Riverside County Animal Services office and the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
California is one of the most liberal states in the country when it comes to animal welfare laws.
In 2022, the state passed strict laws regarding pork, egg, and veal production, effectively banning products from outside the state. That’s on top of the state’s previous ban on the production of foie gras from force-fed birds, which was passed in 2019.
That same year, California became the first state to ban the sale and manufacture of new items made from fur animals, including mink, rabbit, and coyote. There are exceptions for used fur clothing, fur used for religious purposes, leather products, deerskin, sheepskin and goatskin.
Also in 2022, the California legislature banned the practice of declawing cats solely for the convenience of humans.
Claws in cats grow from the bone, not the skin. To remove them, sometimes bones need to be amputated, while other procedures cut tendons to prevent a cat from sticking its claws out.
Animal rights activists have long said declawing is inhumane if done solely for the benefit of humans, arguing that the procedure is painful, renders the animal defenseless and can cause other health problems.