Video caught woman dumping 7 puppies behind California store

COACHELLA, Calif. – Authorities are trying to identify a woman captured by security cameras tossing seven newborn puppies into a dumpster in Southern California.

The Riverside County Department of Animal Services released surveillance video of the woman pulling up to a dumpster behind an auto parts store in Coachella Thursday afternoon. The video shows her stepping out of a white Jeep, peering into a dumpster used for recyclables before dropping a plastic bag into the trash dumpster and driving away.

A man who rummaged through the trash shortly afterward spotted the bag and took it to the store. Authorities said the puppies, believed to be 3-day-old terrier mixes, may not have survived the 90-degree heat had they not been found within an hour of being dumped.