CLEVELAND -- The Animal Protective League is investigating after a litter of puppies was left on a sidewalk and none of the dogs survived the dropping temperatures.

"It had to happen late last night or sometime this morning," said Patrice Morton. She found the small box outside her front door on East 72nd Street on Monday. "I think it's one black puppy and the rest are brown puppies, but you really can't tell their color because they still got the blood."

APL Officer Jed Mignano says it's hard to identify the breed. "This is one of the real tragedies of this whole thing, they were probably dropped off while they were still alive," says Mignano.

Mignano says the puppies were still attached to their mother's placenta which is usually a sign of a distressed birth. He says leaving helpless animals in a box is unacceptable. "Call the APL or another shelter, call the city kennel and say, 'Hey we have a problem, we can't take care of our animals, they just gave birth. Can someone give us some help?'"

"It makes me wonder what the world is coming too, you know, people really don't care about animals and they don't care about other people. That is kinda sad," said one Cleveland resident who wanted to remain anonymous.

Morton said, "I know that I would have took the puppies in my house. They could've knocked on the door or something. I'm an animal lover."

Animal investigators say it's unlikely they'll ever find out who left the puppies. Anyone with information is being asked to call the anonymous investigations hotline at (216) 377-1630.