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Toms River Police Reunite Mother Dog, 9 Puppies

TOMS RIVER (CBSNewYork) -- Police in Toms River, New Jersey have reunited family of puppies, after a woman and her two children rescued two of the puppies as they walked dangerously close to the road.

Around 10:45 a.m. Wednesday, the woman and children found the puppies with their mother at 1430 Hooper Ave., Toms River police said. The woman stopped and rescued the two puppies, but the mother fled into the woods.

Toms River Animal Control officers Dale Beley, Tom Manolio, and Stacy Garabics arrived at the scene and took the puppies.

Meanwhile, police Officer Eric Divone searched the woods and found a makeshift den in the dirt under some pine trees about 50 feet from the sidewalk on Hooper Avenue. He found seven more puppies in the den, police said.

But the mother dog was nowhere to be found. Police set up a human trap near the den, and five hours later they rescued the mother after she entered the trap.

The dogs were evaluated by a veterinarian, and as of Thursday were being housed at an animal shelter at 235 Oak Ave. in Toms River.

A search was under way Thursday to find the owner of the dogs, but if no one claims them after a minimum wait of three weeks, they will be put up for adoption.

Police said the mother appears to be a Jack Russell terrier, while the puppies are of an unknown mix.

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