Meet Sophie, a pit bull mix and new mother of puppies, two boys and a girl, just four weeks old.

She loves attention and is happy at the SPCA of Brevard in Titusville. Her pups are happy and healthy as well.

But there's a gut-wrenching survival story to this family, and how they ended up at the SPCA.

"The pit was involved in a drive-by shooting, and some gang and turf wars down in Miami," said Angie Friers, associate director at the SPCA of Brevard.

The home where Sophie and her pups lived was one of several riddled with bullets last Wednesday, April 29. Then, someone threw a Molotov cocktail inside the home.

Once rescued, Miami-Dade Animal Services took the dogs to their shelter, where their fate was up in the air.

"We just didn't want to let her sit in the shelter one minute longer," Friers said.

Friers and her volunteers sprang into action; they hit the road for South Florida on Saturday.

Eight hours later, the mom and her three puppies were in Titusville, along with 11 other dogs rescued from the shelter.

On Monday, an SPCA veterinarian checked the dogs and gave them the thumbs-up for adoption in the next four weeks.

"They are not like humans; they don't think of the past. They live in the present," Friers said. "All she knows, and her puppies know, is that they are safe with us."

For more information on the puppies and their mother, contact the SPCA of Brevard at (321) 567-3615. The main adoption center is located at 
6035 Sisson Rd., Titusville.