8:30 P.M. UPDATE: The president of Lifehouse Animal Refuge and Rehabilitation reached out to News 2 to update that the puppies were found Thursday evening.

Holly Petty said the puppies were dumped at the backdoor of a home in Murfreesboro. The couple living in the home heard the dogs crying outside and called the police.

The puppies have since been reunited with their foster family.

*****ORIGINAL STORY*****

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Tennessee animal shelter is still on the hunt for three of their puppies stolen from a foster home in Murfreesboro.

“We’ve never had puppies stolen,” said Holly Petty.

Petty is the president of Lifehouse Animal Refuge and Rehabilitation and said she learned her organization’s puppies were stolen after receiving a call Tuesday.

“I knew it had to be somebody she knew because somebody that’s wanting to break into somebody’s house is usually after valuable items and so forth,” she said.

Petty said three puppies were staying with a foster family in Murfreesboro when someone broke in and stole them.

“It’s sad and we don’t know if they are being cared for, so it’s kind of disturbing,” she said.

The thief stole two red nose Pitbull puppies name Milo and Oliver, as well as Rufus and the foster family’s puppy Mushroom, both Merle Australian Shepherds.

Petty said one of the red nose Pitbull puppies has a left front paw that’s slightly twisted to the side.

Petty soon took to social media, desperate to gather any information to help find these dogs.

“Our main goal is to get the puppies back safe, and we just hope they haven’t been dumped,” she said. “There’s a chance they could have been dumped. We let all the local animal controls in that vicinity know in case they get turned over.”

According to Petty, while she’s been searching, scammers have taken this opportunity to reach out.

“What they’ll do is say, ‘Hey, I found your dog,’ and then my first response is, ‘Well send me a picture, prove that,’ and then they’ll say, ‘Well I need you to send me a Google verification code to prove that you are who you are,'” she said.

Luckily, Petty hasn’t fallen victim, but she hopes by sharing photos and speaking out, they’ll be able to find these puppies and bring them home.

“It’s really sad and we worry about are they being fed, are they being cared for,” she said. “So they’ve already been through one rescue, and now they are having to experience it again.”

Petty said they have an idea of who they believe took these puppies and are working with police to try and locate the person.

She said one of the puppies did have a pending application with a family as well.

If anyone has seen the puppies, you can contact Petty at 615-310-5996 or contact Murfreesboro police at 615-849-2673.