Vets in Chennai, India, were recently stunned to discover two “miracle puppies” that had survived a 25-day, 3,000-kilometer journey from China to India, sealed in a shipping container without food or water.

When workers at the Salcomp electronics factory in Sriperumbudur opened a sealed container on Friday, they found an unexpected surprise – a couple of frightened puppies hiding behind the spare parts that they had ordered from China. Seeing that the animals were in bad shape -dehydrated famished and sick – and realizing that the container had been sealed in China on September 5th, security at Nokia telecom park quickly contacted a local animal shelter.

The puppies ended up at The Blue Cross of India animal shelter, where it was determined that they were about three months old. They both had fever and required serious medical attention. However, everyone agreed that the mere fact that they were still alive after their long journey was a miracle. Upon searching the container the puppies arrived in, workers and animal activists found no trace of food or water, which makes their survival a medical impossibility, especially at such a young age.

“It is a miracle that the puppies survived without food or water for over three weeks,” veterinary college professor Shafi told The Times of India. Generally, they can go without feed or water for about a week. This seems to be an extraordinary exception.”

At this point, nobody knows for sure how the puppies wound up in the shipping container, but The Blue Cross of India offers to possible explanations, on their Facebook page. “They might also have been packed up by someone who was trying to get rid of them and this cruel and twisted method for some reason appealed to them,” or someone might have attempted to smuggle them into India.

“Ever since the Indian Government banned breeders from importing dogs from other countries, breeders have been looking for ways to smuggle “fresh stock” into India,” the Blue Cross post states. “Perhaps the crate was originally supposed to have been “intercepted” and released of its suffering “cargo” before proceeding to Salcomp, and that particular phase of the operation did not take place due to some unknown reason.”

The two “miracle puppies” remain in the care of The Blue Cross of India animal shelter, and despite being in a stable condition, workers there said that “their survival is still not assured”. If they do manage to recover, they will have to be quarantined for a fortnight to ensure that they are not carrying any viruses, after which they will hopefully be adopted.

Photos: The Blue Cross of India/Facebook