Animals dumped on my property - what is my duty of care?
Location: Arkansas
Background information: This morning I discovered a litter of puppies huddled together under my carport at my rural property. I didn’t witness the dumping, but there is no way these puppies could have naturally wandered here from the nearest houses, since they barely seem old enough to be weaned.
I tried bringing them to the nearest shelter since they were friendly enough to let me put them in a carrier, but the shelter rejected them as they weren’t abandoned within city limits.
The local sheriff transferred me to animal control, who told me it’s not their problem if it’s outside city limits.
The other rescue organizations and humane societies I’ve called either told me they can’t take them or didn’t answer my calls/messages.
If I can’t get in touch with someone who can/will take these puppies, what are my options? Taking them in myself is completely out of the question since my cats won’t cohabitate with them indoors, and I don’t have a suitable space for them outside.
Update: Still no clue who dumped them, but 23 phone calls later, I finally got the contact info for a rescue that called me back and will attempt to find a foster.