A flaw at Bridgeport's animal shelter has led to two puppies dying, police said.
Two 2-week-old puppies apparently slipped into a waste pipe 5 or 6 feet below the shelter's floor of the kennel where their mother was being held last Friday.
"There is a design flaw in the building and we will try to get it corrected," police Capt. Brian McCarthy told the Connecticut Post. "This was a very unfortunate incident."
A shelter employee heard the trapped animals whining from beneath a bathroom. Crews had planned to rip up the shelter floor to get to the puppies, but several hours had passed and shelter workers determined that the dogs had died.
Firefighters flushed the drain pipe with a fire hose and the body of one puppy washed out. The other was never found.
Police are making changes in procedures.
"Until we get the flaw fixed, I've directed the shelter's employees not to put any small dogs or puppies in kennels with the waste trough," McCarthy said.
