BUXTON — Buxton’s animal control officer has solved one puppy mystery and is making progress on another.

Authorities are trying to learn more about a litter of 4-week-old puppies left in a bag on the side of the road Friday near the intersection of Routes 202 and 4A. Police are investigating charges of animal cruelty because the puppies were abandoned, said Adam Ricci, animal control officer. They also wanted to locate the people who took in the puppies, of which there were between five and seven, because they are so young they need special medical attention.

One of the puppies was brought to the police station and is now in foster care with a veterinary technician at the Westbrook Animal Hospital.

Police and local animal welfare agencies started getting telephone calls about puppies recovered in the area, but those puppies were a couple weeks older than the puppies that were abandoned, Ricci said. It turns out a stray dog living in the area had had a litter of pups six or seven weeks earlier, some of which had been taken in by concerned residents.

That dog is in good health and should not be disturbed, Ricci said. Its presence in the same area where the abandoned puppies were found is coincidental, he said. Ricci has had success identifying some of the people who were involved in recovering the abandoned puppies, he said, and the investigation is making progress.