Seven pups rescued from burn pile find new homes

By LYNETTE SOWELL

Cove Leader-Press

Seven puppies along with their mother will soon go to their forever homes, thanks to a local woman’s intervention.

A property owner off Lutheran Church Road found the puppies, along with their mother, in a burn pile and got in touch with Brittany Weimert, who has experience in fostering kittens and puppies.

The land owner was getting ready to clear the land, Weimert said, and before burning that pile he had started looking in it and found the puppies.

The mother dog, a terrier mix, has been out there a year come this April, she added. The pups’ estimated age was six to seven weeks old when Weimert took them in.

“I did capture the mom and she’s amazing. She’s the only reason those pups lived so long. There were rabbit carcasses in the pit, so she had been catching her own meals.”

Rescuing the puppies, along with their mother, was a relatively simple process.

“I put all the pups in the car, opened my back hatch,” Weimert said. “The pups were crying and she jumped right into the car with her babies.”

The puppies will go to their forever homes once they are eight to nine weeks old.

“They will go on contract to be spayed/neutered and get their rabies.” The puppies have had their first set of shots and before they leave they will have their second set.

Weimert is one of several local residents who devote time to caring for puppies and kitties and “fostering” them until they can be adopted.

Every year, Weimert said she’s fostered during kitten and puppy season for the Killeen Animal Shelter, but this is here first year fostering for Copperas Cove animals.

“I’ve fostered and adopted out dozens of pets to include dogs, cats and turtles.”

The mother dog and her seven pups have a happy ending, going from the burn pile, to Weimert’s home, and all of the puppies as well as the mother have been adopted.

Weimert said she has been involved in animal foster and rescue work for about eight years and got her start when the family lived on Fort Hood and she began caring for a feral cat colony.

“I have 11 fosters right now, from two-week-old kittens and puppies to a three-year-old (Great) Dane with medical needs.”

She recommends some steps for those who are interested in fostering kittens or puppies.

“It is kitten and puppy season. If anyone is interested in becoming a foster, they should visit their local animal control to find out all the details.” She also recommends individuals take a class offered by Texas Parks & Wildlife on bottle feeding and rearing wildlife.

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