Woman horrified after discovering pile of dead puppies behind south Auckland petrol station

Manhannack and her mother later picked the pups up and buried them. Photo / Supplied

Warning: graphic content

A south Auckland woman is reeling after discovering a pile of dead puppies when she was picking up rubbish behind a petrol station.

Pukekohe woman Leah Manhannack was picking up rubbish from around the BP in the Bombay Hills yesterday afternoon when she found the animals.

The 29-year-old told the Herald she frequently spent time picking up rubbish around south Auckland.

Yesterday she was with her two dogs cleaning up around the McDonalds restaurant in the Bombay complex, before she headed around to the back of the BP petrol station.

"I'd seen heaps of campervans and stuff around there, so I thought there could be a lot of rubbish," she said.

One of her dogs beat her there, and as she made her way over her pup began barking and "acting weird".

She went over to investigate and saw there was a pile of puppies on the ground, dead.

Leah Manhannack was upset to find the pile of dead puppies behind a petrol station south of Auckland. Photo / Supplied

Manhannack said she was shocked - even more so in seeing that the puppies were partially grown, rather than newborn.

Manhannack said it appeared the puppies, which looked to be pitbulls, had died recently.

It was not clear how they had died, though she said one appeared to have a broken neck.

Manhannack reported her discovery to police along with the SPCA, and also posted about the incident on her local community Facebook page.

She left the site, shocked and upset, but later returned with her mother to pick them up and bury them.

A police spokeswoman confirmed they had received a report on Friday morning that 6 dead puppies had been found at the back of the truck stop area.

"It appears the person who made the report to Police had already spoken to the SPCA, who had made arrangements to collect the puppies," she said.

She said there were "unfortunately" no lines of enquiry for the police to pursue.

Manhannack said the ordeal hit her hard.

"I just don't understand why you would do that - what would drive you to do that. There are places that could help, you know people out there that are wanting to adopt."

"That's why it's so important to get your dogs fixed."

She had found dead animals on her rubbish-collecting missions before - once she discovered a litter of newborn kittens.

But this was different, she said, as it appeared the puppies had been kept as pets for some time before they were dumped.

She was also surprised to have made the discovery around the community she lived in.

"We have a really beautiful community… that's why I just don't understand this.

"I hope I don't come across this ever again."