Five blind Husky pups found abandoned on rural road doing quite well

Five blind Husky puppies found this week on a hot, rural roadway near Sanger are on the road to recovery and already appear to have an agency ready to adopt them, according to officials at Fresno Humane Animal Services.

The frisky pups appear in good health and leave no impression that their blindness is impeding them or leaving any effect on their good nature as they recover in a kennel in southwest Fresno.

Brenda Mitchell of Fresno Humane said it’s likely the dogs were abandoned because of their blindness, possibly by a backyard breeder who decided they could not be sold because of the defect.

Two of the dogs were found Sunday by a good Samaritan, and the remaining three were found by Fresno Humane workers Monday.

Mitchell said dog rescue officials sometimes refer to those who leave behind such pups as “bucket breeders,” who drown puppies with birth defects in five-gallon buckets.

Mitchell said sometimes dog breeders, particularly those seeking Australian shepherds with an all-white head of fur, euthanize puppies who don’t turn out as planned. Dogs bred for an all-white color can be born with birth defects such as blindness. Four of the Huskies found Sunday are almost completely white.

“They end up blind, and deaf, all kinds of things,” she said.

Nature can, however, be relatively kind to dogs born without vision, Mitchell added: Because of their powerful sense of hearing and smell, the blind pups will likely adapt fairly quickly to a new environment. Such dogs will typically high-step around a home or yard for the first few days as they find their way, she said.

Fresno Humane Animal Services, at 760 W. Nielsen Ave., has many other beautiful dogs who would like a home, Mitchell noted.

This story was originally published July 16, 2019 at 1:58 PM.