Puppies found in gas station dumpster

Tuesday night during her shift at the Holiday Gas Station, Kim Mattson brought a load of boxes to this dumpster.

“I got back here and it was all dark because there is no lights and I heard like crying, we thought it was cats in there so we got all freaked out,” said Mattson.

Mattson grabbed a flashlight. She and a co-worker looked inside.

“We went to open the thing and nothing jumped out, so we looked in there and there's a bag and she's like the other lady that was with me was like, it's not moving, so we didn't know what to do and all of a sudden we heard it screaming again,” Mattson said.

Mattson called police. A customer climbed inside the dumpster to retrieve the bag.

“The bag was tied, so they opened the bag and there were these puppies, little black Lab puppies in there and it was so sad,” said Mattson.

Menominee police say it's not only sad, it's a crime.

“Obviously it was an act that somebody had intent to put the animals there and leave them for the worst case,” said Justin Hofer with the Menominee Police Department.

Hofer says animal cruelty is punishable by up to 93 days in jail as well as fines and community service.

Police brought the six puppies to the Menominee Animal Shelter, but by that time there was little that could be done.

“The vet came in, took a look at them and they were pretty far gone. They'd been exposed to the elements to a degree that they were not really able to save them,” said shelter manager Nancy Dechert.

Dechert said the pups - less than a week old - were cold, wet and likely had hypothermia, leaving the vet no choice but to put them down.

“Had the people brought the animals to us without a mom, we could have found someone to foster them, to bottle feed them, we could have saved those dogs, there was no need to put them in a dumpster,” Dechert said.

There is a reward for information leading to the person who dumped the puppies.

Kim Mattson says the discovery still haunts her.

“I went home last night and I closed my eyes and that was all I could see is those puppies in the bag and it's so sad,” said Mattson.

Menominee police are asking anyone who might know or have seen something to call them at 906-863-5568.