Three weeks ago, you met Nipsey and her newborn puppies. Nipsey was shot in the face by a cop after he went into the back of a yard on Supal Street, despite being warned that there was a nursing dog nearby. When Nipsey barked the at officer, he took out a firearm and pulled the trigger.
Nipsey survived, but her puppies aren't so lucky. She was unable to keep nursing them, so her family took over. But puppies that young typically need their mother. So, one by one, they passed away, leaving the Riverol family to mourn both the lives and the time they invested to try and save them.
Courtney Menzies went back to their home to speak with them. Here is that story.
These ten puppies were kept alive for three weeks after their mother was shot because of the endless hours the Riverol family spent nursing them. Even though Nipsey survived a bullet to the face, which came from the gun of a police officer, she lost a lot of weight, and the medication she was on made it impossible for her to nurse the puppies.
But despite the efforts from the family, all ten puppies passed away over the past week.
Royann Riverol, Resident, Supal Street
"Last week the runt, he was the one getting weaker. He didn't want to take any milk and this was the problem with all of them. All of them were switching up with all the milks. Sometimes they drink it, sometimes they don't drink it and we had to force the puppies to drink the milk. But the little runt, he, last week, I think it's last week or last weekend, he's the one that ended up succumbing to it. But he was the one that looked like he would strive, he was the one that we said, okay, this one we would keep from out of all of them. But unfortunately..."
"Then like around Wednesday then we noticed two more passed away and those were two females. In all it was three females. And the others were males. So two females passed away together and we just looked at the next couple puppies and we noticed that they're getting weaker so we tried to boost them up and give them pedialyte to try and bring back their immune system but unfortunately, none."
The puppies were less than two weeks old when they had to be separated from their mother. And according to the vet, it was the lack of nutrients they were supposed to get from Nipsey's milk that ultimately led to their deaths.
And for the Riverol family, it's not just the lives of their precious pups lost, but also a lot of time and money - especially since they expected to recover some of the funds from the sale of the puppies.
Royann Riverol, Resident, Supal Street
"It's very devastating because the dedication we put in all of these pups especially with Nipsey, the countless nights, the sleepless nights we have to be up, up to now it's like we're trying to grapple with all of this and it's very hard, it's actually hard because it puts a toll on not only me but on my brothers, my sister, my son, so it's rough because we worked hard. We didn't even have a break to enjoy life with friends or anything like that, we just dedicated ourselves to these puppies."
"That was our thing, to sell them, to help deal with bills and stuff like that bu unfortunately all of that went down the drain. Like we just spent a lot of money in milk and things like that for the pups. At times we had to switch up the milk because they didn't want the milk, I had to purchase expensive milk and still they don't want that so we have to mix it with dog food, puppy chow, we had to do that and even from that..."
And the Commissioner of Police conceded that it's likely the department will have to compensate the family. But how much is enough for Nipsey's medical bills and the subsequent loss of her pups?
Royann Riverol, Resident, Supal Street
"We haven't heard anything back, we're waiting on the ComPol to reach out to us and say exactly where we go from here and we haven't sat down and said about an estimation of anything of that sort. But we just want justice for what has happened to our pups and for Nipsey because that cop did something that, you know, it's a rollercoaster and it turned our lives really upside down so I don't know where to go from here."
And for Nipsey, she's on her healing journey, but still not the same dog she once was:
Royann Riverol, Resident, Supal Street
"Nipsey is recovering but she is still, you know, she pulls back and she's still in that little phase that she still needs to recognize your face in order to know that that's their owner or I know this person or so. But slowly she is getting there."
But she is still unable to go to the back of the yard where the incident happened, and where her pups were being kept. Now, all ten of them have been buried before she could see them again.
