Animal control officers rescued these seven puppies from under an old shearing quarters and named them Bill, Lucy, Kym, Gail, Lorelle, Brent and Chris.

Animal control officers have rescued seven puppies from under a Bexley property.

Christchurch City Council senior animal control officer Bill Kohi said his team had been after a certain stray dog, which they later named Bex, since November.

"She'd been wandering there for some time and we'd tried on several occasions [to catch her]," he said.

The tried using a trap cage with food in it.

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"She was very elusive. We couldn't get close to her and she wouldn't go in the trap."

Last week several people complained to animal control that Bex had been on private properties looking for food and would become aggressive if startled.

"We'd had a few complaints about her rushing at people and barking at people," Kohi said.

"It's understandable in hindsight because she'd had puppies, and bitches that have had pups are very protective of their territory."

The team tracked her down to an old shearing quarters used for storage.

Kohi said the area was open, with lots of gaps in fences and holes Bex could use as entrances and exits.

The animal control officers spent "a couple of days" blocking up the exits and, during that time, noticed Bex was carrying milk.

On Monday they used a fibre optic camera to search for the puppies under the building, with no luck.

"They were really well camouflaged," said Kohi.

"It wasn't until Tuesday that we actually heard the pups."

The team trapped Bex and retrieved the seven puppies, named Bill, Lucy, Kym, Gail, Lorelle, Brent and Chris after their rescuers.

Kohi said the SPCA was looking after the mother and puppies on behalf of the council.

"Their facility is better suited to young pups like that."

Bex does not have a microchip, and officers hadn't found her owner.

Kohi said the puppies, which were two weeks old, could be adopted when they reached eight to 10 weeks.

He hoped Bex could be adopted too, because her temperament changed "dramatically" after officers caught her and gained her trust.

"She was sitting and wagging her tail and eating food out of our hands."