I saved puppies thrown in river by teenage girl: Grandmother, 75, claims she found dogs struggling in water

It was a story that shocked the world - a YouTube video showing a girl hurling a bucket full of whimpering puppies into a fast-flowing river.

But today, it is claimed, the days-old litter were not swept to their deaths, but were fished out of the river by a 75-year-old grandmother.



The woman claims to have saved the dogs' lives after spotting them struggling to stay afloat at the side of the river as she made her way to a potato field.

However, although the woman posed proudly with the litter, it is not certain that they are the same dogs.

The puppies, pictured here with Ruza Pavlovic, who lives in Bugojno, Bosnia, are brown and black, while the ones thrown into the river appeared to be black and white.

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It is also not clear if puppies as young as those in the YouTube video appeared to be would have been able to stay afloat long enough for Pavlovic to reach them.



Police have tracked down the girl they believe threw the animals into the river and are set to interview her about the horrifying act of animal cruelty.

She - and the person who filmed her - may be the only ones who can confirm if Pavlovic's claims are true.

But the elderly lady believed she had rescued the same puppies whose fate had gripped the world.

Yesterday she said: 'They are healthy and happy. My problem is that they need at least three litres of milk a day and I live only on my small pension, but I do not have the heart to abandon them.'

The mysterious teenager, wearing a hooded top, caused worldwide outrage when she was shown online apparently killing six newborn puppies by throwing them into the river one by one.



The name of the girl has not been published to protect her safety.

The video appears to show a girl throwing live puppies into a fast-flowing river

The teenage girl kneels down to lift what looks like a live puppy from the bucket

The girl's parents will soon be questioned, police said. Under Bosnian law, people can be fined up to £4,000 for animal cruelty.



Such was the international fury it prompted Transformers movie director Michael Bay to offer a $50,000 (£32,500) reward for the prosecution of the young woman.



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On his website, the director said: 'There is a disturbing video going around the news outlets. It's a video of blonde young woman in a red sweatshirt casually tossing squealing puppies into the fast-moving river one by one.'

He offered the reward for 'information leading to the arrest and successful prosecution of the woman in the red sweatshirt and the person who shot this act of cruelty'.

Animals rights group 'Flekice' (Spots) filed a complaint to police claiming the girl seen on the video, originally posted on YouTube, came from the central town of Bugojno.

Another animal rights group - SOS, which is based in Sarajevo - also claimed to have information confirming the location of the girl, who was reportedly filmed by her brother.

Velimir Ivanisevic from the group said he received an email that allegedly identifies her as a teenager from the central Bosnian town of Bugojno.

'We cannot say with 100 per cent certainty that this is true, but we received some other information which leads us to believe that it is,' Ivanisevic said.

Bosnian law requires anyone who kills or injures an animal to pay a fine ranging from €15 to €5,000 (£12 to £4,150) .

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) offered a €1,500 (£1,300) reward earlier this week to help catch the young woman in the film

The video has prompted outrage among internet groups all over the world



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The 44-second video shows a blonde girl in a red sweatshirt casually tossing the squealing black-and-white puppies into the river one by one.

The video has been removed from YouTube but not before it was embedded on a number of other sites.

Several Facebook pages were created dedicated to exposing the girl, who appears to be a teenager.

Users of the image forum 4chan, who recently identified a British woman who dumped a cat into a wheelie bin, have vowed to unmask her.

They had already tracked down bank worker Mary Bale after CCTV of her dumping a cat in a rubbish bin was published online.