On a chilly January day in Texas, several animal control officers responded to a call about a stray dog in South San Antonio. Once they’d safely secured the dog, the officers scanned the area before heading out.

That’s when they noticed a couple of lumps of fur draped over a concrete slab. Two weak puppies looked up at them.

“They were just lying there prone,” Lisa Norwood, public relations manager at San Antonio Animal Care Services (SAACS), told The Dodo. “They weren’t moving.”

Deeply concerned, the officers carefully approached the babies — only to see four more tiny heads pop out from beneath the concrete.

“You would assume that, you know, maybe the puppies would react in some way — get scared,” Norwood said. “No, they just watched as the officers were coming up.”

A whole litter of puppies had taken shelter in a makeshift den underneath the concrete near a drainage spillway. Curled up among debris and trash, they huddled together.

An officer reached into the darkness to ease the puppies out, trying to prevent them from crawling even deeper. Suddenly, it became clear that the officers had no idea just how many babies were hiding in the den.

In all, officers found 11 puppies that day.

“When they pulled them out, they were in relatively poor condition,” Norwood said. “They had pale gums, they were dehydrated, just fleas everywhere.”

With no mama in sight, officers rushed all 11 pups, and the stray they’d secured earlier, to SAACS, where a vet examined and treated each baby for parasites.

“We have no idea how long these guys had been out there,” Norwood said. “We estimated they were about two months old.”

Due to their vulnerable condition, SAACS reached out to a partner shelter organization, San Antonio Pets Alive (SAPA), for help. The shelter didn’t hesitate to take the babies in.

Over the past few weeks, shelter staff and a veterinary team have closely monitored the puppies’ condition.

Several of the babies tested positive for an intestinal parasite but are fighting hard to get better so they can meet potential adopters. Four are already in safe, warm foster homes, where they’re learning what it means to be loved.

“They are very sweet,” SAPA told The Dodo in an email. “[They] have a lot of puppy love to give.”

These tiny survivors are having a blast developing their own unique personalities and cuddling together. Shelter staff said one pup in particular, Lando, simply does “whatever he wants.”