Mrs Bartlett was making her way from Lorne Station to Lightning Ridge when she saw a friend of hers parked by the side of the road.

Thinking he had blown a tyre, she stopped to offer her help.

But to her amazement it wasn't her friend needing the help, instead she saw three puppies, that were barely a week old clambering out of an old VB case with another two still inside.

"I was just shocked to see that these puppies had just been left here to die, and they were still so young, they barely had their eyes open."

But she said she didn't think they had been stranded for too long because the box they were in wasn't soaked despite the rainy day.

"If they would have been out there any longer than a day I'm sure they'd all be dead."

Mrs Bartlett said she took the puppies to work that morning , where her friend Linda Henry took the task on of looking after them.

The puppies have now been in the care of Mrs Henry for a month.

Mrs Henry said they first had to be fed with a special formula from the vet every four hours for the first two weeks because they hadn't been weaned.

"Now they're lapping, eating and drinking and it's time to find them a new home."

Mrs Henry said it was sickening and disheartening that people had just dumped them.

"How can someone nurse them for less than 10 days and then just get rid of them?"

Mrs Henry said she has just started advertising for the puppies to be given away to a good home, but hasn't had any success to date yet.

Both Mrs Bartlett and Mrs Henry said they had never found and nurtured a litter that had been stranded before and the pair didn't think all five of the puppies would initially survive.

"The vet had said if they managed to get through the first 24 hours we'd be laughing, and they did," Mrs Henry said.

Anyone interested in providing a good home for one of these puppies is asked to call 6829 1252, preferably in the evenings.