It wasn’t the kind of delivery anyone expected. A cardboard Lay’s chips box sat quietly outside the SPCA of Petersburg & Colonial Heights. But something felt off—the box was already open, and it definitely wasn't a snack donation.
A staff member, curious but concerned, peeked inside. What they found left their heart heavy with worry.
Huddled together on an unplugged heating pad were seven tiny puppies, so young that many of their eyes hadn’t even opened yet. With morning temperatures dipping into the low 40s, these little lives had been dangerously close to freezing. If the box hadn’t been discovered in time, their fate would have been far more tragic.
Wasting no time, the staff member rushed the box inside, gently cleaning and warming the fragile pups. But there was one big problem—without a mother to nurse and care for them, their survival would be an uphill battle. So, the SPCA reached out to Richmond Ruff House, a foster-based rescue known for taking on even the most challenging cases.
“We are a foster-based, all-volunteer rescue, meaning we could take them into our home to assure they received feedings every four hours,” Cindy Larkin, Richmond Ruff House’s director and cofounder, explained.
And sure enough, the pups began to thrive. With round-the-clock care, they were soon eating well, putting on weight, and growing stronger each day. Remarkably, within just 48 hours, every single one of the puppies had opened their eyes—perhaps the first real glimpse of the world that had nearly abandoned them.
“They are doing GREAT!” Larkin shared. “They are going through an entire can of milk replacement formula per day.”
Despite the pups’ rapid progress, the team knew that nothing could replace the nurturing comfort of a mother dog. That’s when they decided to try something special. They introduced the puppies to Libby, a sweet foster dog who was already nursing her own litter.
Since Libby had just become a mom herself, the hope was that she might take these orphaned pups under her wing—or paw. And Libby didn’t disappoint.
“She jumped right in and started to clean them up,” Larkin said, touched by Libby’s instant maternal instincts. “She even laid down for them, but at first, they wouldn’t attempt to nurse.”
For hours, the puppies remained hesitant. But around 3 o’clock that afternoon, something clicked—the puppies finally latched on to Libby. It was a heartwarming moment of connection, one that brought everyone a little closer to hope.
However, it soon became clear that nursing seven additional puppies would be too much for Libby, a small Whippet-mix, especially since the orphaned pups, believed to be bully mixes, were much larger than her own babies. Nursing them all would drain her strength, but Libby wasn’t ready to give up on them. Even though she couldn’t fully feed them, she continued to clean and check on the puppies, embracing her role as their surrogate mom in every way she could.
“She kept checking on them and continued to clean them up,” Larkin said, smiling. “She was definitely acting as a surrogate mother … minus the actual feeding.”
With Libby’s tender care and the foster team’s bottle-feeding schedule, the puppies are on their way to a bright future. As they grow, they’ll be weaned off the bottles, receive vaccinations, and eventually begin the search for their forever homes.
For now, these once-abandoned puppies are safe, warm, and loved, a far cry from the cardboard box that nearly spelled their doom. Soon, they’ll find families who will spoil them with love, where the only thing a Lay's box will hold is snacks—not puppies.
This remarkable rescue is a testament to the power of teamwork, compassion, and the extraordinary love of a foster dog who knew that these little lives deserved a second chance.
