Suitcase Full of Puppies Finds New Homes

What's more adorable than a suitcase full of puppies? A suitcase full of puppies with a happy ending.

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Six Ohio puppies found abandoned in a suitcase have now been adopted, after a lottery held by a local animal shelter attracted bids from families throughout the nation. The bulldog-mix puppies were found last month zipped into a satchel next to a trash can, with their mother tied up in a nearby alley behind a local grocery store in Toledo.

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Since the news of the puppies broke, the Toledo Area Humane Society has fielded nearly 1,000 inquiries about adopting the poor animals. Since six puppies don’t easily split up 1,000 ways, the animal shelter held a lottery to determine who would be able to take the animals home. Nearly 132 applicants entered the contest to be a potential adopter.

Among some of the lucky adopters, Jennice and Eddie Collier drove two hours to welcome the new addition to their family. Their daughter tagged along for the event and helped pick the puppy. Mrs. Collier told the Toledo Blade, “[My daughter] has been asking for a dog for at least five years.”

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The puppies’ former owner, Howard Davis, has pleaded no contest to the charges of abandoning animals and cruelty to animals. Hard to argue otherwise, really, as authorities tracked him down thanks to the identification tag he’d left on the suitcase.

Erica Ho is a contributor at TIME and the editor of Map Happy. Find her on Twitter at @ericamho and Google+. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.