Man finds puppies left in box near San Rafael dumpster

NOVATO, Calif. (KGO) -- Nine young dogs are searching for a new home after they were brought into the Marin Humane Society by a man claiming he found them near a dumpster.

The five males and four females are about 9 weeks old. They were brought into the shelter on Tuesday afternoon.

Officials say a man carried them in in an animal crate, claiming he found them all together in a box next to a dumpster in San Rafael.

"These look to be some sort of either Rottweiler or lab or something mixed," said Dr. Belinda Evans.

According to Evans, all the puppies appear to be in pretty good health.

"So far they look good," she said. "They are in good body weight, they are eating and active. We've had some roundworms, which is pretty typical for dogs these age, puppies this age. But otherwise, they look like they're in pretty good condition at this point."

In about a week, the Marin Humane Society expects to have them ready for adoption.

PHOTOS: Puppies found near dumpster in San Rafael rescued

"At this point, we haven't seen any red flags, on either hand from the behavior or medical standpoint," Evans said. "So at this point, it looks like they're going to be adoptable and be able to go up fairly soon, hopefully."

The Marin Humane Society also wants to remind people about how to avoid this situation in the future.

"It's wonderful to see puppies," said Lisa Bloch with the Main Humane Society. "They're cute and everything, but it's really irresponsible if you don't have homes for them. It's a lot of stress on shelters. So we hope people take advance of what we have to offer and get their animals spayed and neutered."

There is some assistance available for those who cannot afford the procedure.

For more information on how you can adopt, click here.