PETA is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction on cruelty charges of the person(s) responsible for abandoning three puppies in the woods in the freezing cold near the intersection of Gershal and Eppinger avenues. One of the puppies was already dead by the time they had been discovered.

On November 29, Buena resident Suzanne Stretch was in the area when she heard the puppies crying. She found them trapped in a basket. One puppy was deceased, and the remaining two were emaciated, dehydrated, and cold. Weather reports show that the temperature dipped to as low as 20 degrees that day. The surviving puppies—now named Wanda and Cosmo—were transported to South Jersey Regional Animal Shelter. They are estimated to be about 10 weeks old.

No leads or suspects have been identified, so PETA is asking for the public’s help.

Credit: South Jersey Regional Animal Shelter

“Someone dumped these puppies in the woods, one died, and the others were left to freeze or starve to death,” says PETA Senior Vice President Colleen O’Brien. “If there are more animals in this person’s custody, they could be in grave danger, and PETA urges anyone with information to come forward.”

Anyone with information should contact the New Jersey State Police Bridgeton Barracks at 856-451-0100.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.