News Photo from Temi Fadayomi Alpena Police Department Officer Linnessa Mellberg (left) and Alpena County Animal Control Officer Michelle Reid (right) hold two abandoned puppies at the Alpena County Animal Shelter on Thursday. The puppies are currently safe and being cared for as the investigation into their abandonment continues.

ALPENA — Two puppies that were recently found abandoned in Alpena are safe, but the Alpena County Sheriff’s Office is continuing to investigate, officials said Thursday.

According to Alpena County Animal Control Officer Michelle Reid, the Animal Control office received a call about a puppy in a bathroom at Starlite Beach. After the puppy was brought to the shelter and no owner was found on the scene, an investigation into animal abandonment immediately began.

“We started to investigate at that time [of the puppy’s retrieval] because there was nobody around the bathrooms,” Reid said.

On Wednesday evening, there was another tip given to Animal Control about an abandoned puppy that was found in a portable restroom on Rotary Island. This puppy was picked up and brought by the Alpena City Police Department, which is collaborating with the Sheriff’s Office on the investigation.

According to Reid, the puppies are identified as being from the same litter and are currently being taken care of at the animal shelter.

Animal Control stated that the dogs are not currently up for adoption. On its Facebook Page, the Animal Control Office said it will update with more information when it can as it follows up on leads and moves forward with its investigation.

On its Facebook page, Animal Control encourages citizens to not make any assumptions and if they had any information about either incident to call Reid at 989-354-9841 or email reidm@alpenacounty.org.

Citizens can also contact Officer Mellberg from the Alpena Police Department at 989-354-1800 or email Linnessam@alpena.mi.us.