Shelters and rescues get all kinds of dogs for all kinds of reasons. In my opinion, it is never the dog's fault - it's the owner's fault. There are different kinds of rescues - purebreed and mixed breed rescues - who take dogs for several reasons. Often they are contacted by people who want to surrender their dogs for whatever reason (not enough time, moving, etc.). This is more common for purebreed rescues, and is seen as a "safe" way for people to dump their dogs. Purebreed rescues will also pull from shelters when dogs of their breed are dumped there. Often they have limited room (if it's a popular breed like lab or husky) and can only house so many in foster homes. I think that in this case, the people had the litter without realizing the work that would go into taking care of the puppies. They probably didn't do any research, and when it got to be too much work for them, they decided to dump the puppies. Welcome to the world of the backyard breeder. I have seen several purebreed rescues with purebreed puppies - often it's a "couldn't find homes and I'm tired of taking care of them" situation, or else the puppies have some kind of medical disorder that they can't afford to take care of. Very sad.

I'm so glad you adopted and helped save a life! Congrats! Any pictures?