ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- A pack of playful dogs that belonged to an American hero may lose their lives for his sacrifice. An Orange County soldier was forced to give up his dogs to the shelter when he was shipped off to Iraq, but no one has stepped up to adopt the dogs and as a last resort they may have to be put down.

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SLIDESHOW: Images Of The Dogs Waiting On Adoption
FLYER: Animal Services Flyer About The Dogs (PDF)
WEBSITE: Orange County Animal Services
ANIMAL NEWS: More Stories Of Animals In The News

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Daisy, River, Zephyr, Skye and Meadow look like full grown dogs, but the three girls and two boys are only ten months old. Their owner surrendered them to Orange County Animal Services before he was deployed to Iraq.

"He had to make the hard decision to bring them here to our shelter. What we did is we promised him we would do everything in our power to get them adopted," said Vanessa Bouffard, Orange County Animal Services.

Florida law only requires the shelter to keep the dogs for five working days, so if they don't find a home for them soon, they may have to be euthanized. The shelter is trying to save their lives. They will soon start aggressively marketing the puppies to rescue agencies.

Workers say it's not the ideal situation, because that would only be a temporary solution.

"We do want all of our animals to go to a permanent home so that it's less stress for the animal in the long run," Bouffard said.

Between October of last year and January of this year, nearly 700 owners surrendered their dogs to Animal Services. Last year, Orange County put down nearly 4,000 dogs. They don't want to add the five to the list, especially while their owner is risking his life for the country.

Animal Services has also made flyers to hang on the kennels inside so when people come they get to read their story. If you are interested in adopting, contact Orange County Animal Services at 407-254-9140.