Partnership with Pope Memorial Cocheco Valley
We need your support now more than ever!
What do 4 orphaned newborns and a surrendered mom with 5 babies have in common??? 
All are the first residents of our new training center! 
Our friends at Pope Memorial Humane Society NH were full and this new family of 10 needed a place to thrive so Mama and babies arrived at HQ Friday afternoon.
About a week ago, a sweet mama was urgently surrendered to Pope Memorial … along with her 5 pups in need of proper medical attention. This incredible mother had given birth to a dozen puppies just days before, losing more than half of them before they could reach our friends at Pope. This tough little mom was sad but showed what a great mom she could be if she had proper care.
With limited space available, Pope got her as comfy as possible and started medical care they all desperately needed. She felt safe, and she happily allowed the team to care for her pups – but it didn’t end there.
Hours later, Pope received a call from another shelter. Four abandoned puppies had been found under a deck, tiny and motherless, just days old. They knew that these fragile pups wouldn’t survive without immediate care, and also knew Pope had just taken in a nursing mother. The 4 orphaned pups were brought in and our sweet new mom seamlessly embraced these additional babies as if they were her own. After losing so many of her original litter, we think it helped fill a void. the team at Pope knew that this family faced a long road ahead, and sadly, it only got more challenging from there. After testing, it was discovered that the mom was heartworm-positive, adding another layer of difficulty to their journey. Heartworm treatment involves months of specialized care and multiple medications. The only silver lining being her diagnosis wouldn’t affect her puppies in any way.
Caring for a nursing mother and her 9 pups is already a demanding task, but caring for a heartworm-positive nursing mother and her 9 pups in the midst of an influx of other animals is an even greater challenge.
With all the experience the Hero Pups team has with newborns and mamas, we welcomed this mom with ALL the babies as our first residents of our new building. Having this family in our care will allow Pope to focus on the amazing work they do to save more animals and make some room at the shelter – and hopefully some of these pups will grow into service dog candidates!
This little family has put a pause on completing the grooming room in our new building so that they can have their own cozy space, but it’s worth it to help them all towards brighter futures. As we put finishing touches on the rest of the new building and prepare for our upcoming open house, these pups are starting to open their eyes and will be making their mark as our first residents of our new space!
Partnerships like this are made possible through the support of our community, in the forms of monetary donations, collection drives, and purchases from our Amazon or Walmart wishlist. Any contribution goes a long way!