Who Left 13 Labrador Puppies In Utah’s Wilderness?

Authorities are still trying to figure out who dumped a whole passel of puppies in the wilderness... and why.

Yesterday a pair of tourists were checking out the incredible back country of central Utah -- specifically the San Rafael Swell National Monument area -- when one of them noticed an unattended Labrador puppy.

That's odd, the tourist thought. Why would a little dog be out here with no one else around?

And then another one appeared. And another. And another.

All-totaled, 13 black Lab dogs were found and rescued in the wilderness area, 11 by the tourist couple.

The dogs were turned over to Best Friends Animal Shelter and many of them have already been adopted by families in the Central Utah area.

But the mystery remains -- who set them loose to tend for themselves, and why?

Read More Here: Miracle Cat Survives Fall In Utah (2 People Did Not)

"The stark reality is that sometimes people get pets, not realizing how hard it is to take care of them," said animal expert S.L. Richards. "We see that a lot around Easter with chicks, rabbits and even ducklings.

"But this case seems to be a bit different. I think someone's dog got pregnant and had a huge litter of puppies, at which point they realized they didn't want all these dogs and decided to release them."

Richards points out that he doesn't know if all the dogs are from the same litter, but it "appeared" they were related.

This story comes on the heels of two other amazing animal stories.

last week a cat survived a 380-foot fall in Bryce Canyon National Park and in April a Miniature Dachshund was rescued from the Australian wilderness after surviving nearly two years on its own after wondering away from its owners.

In all three cases, experts are somewhat baffled by how these animals could survive the extreme situations they were put in.

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