NYPD Nabs 8 'Burglar' Puppies in Holiday Sweaters

There were a few tense moments yesterday morning as NYPD officers rushed into an unoccupied three-family Brooklyn home while responding to a burglary call. But that tension turned to tenderness when cops discovered the true source of suspicious noises: eight white Maltese-mix puppies in a cage dressed up in holiday sweaters, the New York Post reports. The owner of the Sheepshead Bay building had called police after hearing odd sounds coming from the third floor of the building, fearing someone had broken in, the New York Daily News reports.

Even though the building was abandoned (one neighbor describes the place as "really, really nasty" to the Post), it appears someone was caring for the pups: Besides the fact that they probably didn't go out and buy their own holiday attire, a police source tells the newspaper, "It looks like someone was trying to look out for them. … Someone left food for them." The puppies were brought back to the NYPD's 61^st Precinct station, then to NYC's Animal Care and Control for a checkup. The precinct tweeted a pic of the pups and said they'll be up for adoption in a couple of days after medical clearance. (A San Francisco couple found three terrier pups in a trash can.)