A Papamoa resident's usual morning beach run took a sickening twist after she came across a sack full of drowned puppies.

The resident, known only as Sarah, was running along Papamoa Beach yesterday when she uncovered the dead canines on the shoreline.

A photo of the sack with dead puppies found on Papamoa Beach. Photo: Supplied.

She was about 3kms past the final set of houses on Papamoa East Beach towards Maketu.

In the white industrial sack were between six and eight brown dead puppies, presumed to be new born.

'It [the sack] was full with them, the poor things,” Sarah says.

'They came from a reasonable sized dog because they were reasonable pups. But they were definitely new born pups because they still had their chords attached.”

It is believed someone may have come across the dead puppies before Sarah as there was a large hole cut in the bag.

Unable to carry the bag to her home, she left it on the beach.

'It took me a while to figure out what it was,” she adds. 'I think it might have come from the Kaituna Cut and has just washed up on the beach.”

Reporting the find to SPCA Sarah was told by a staff member that, unfortunately, this happens a lot heading into summer with unwanted kittens and puppies.

SPCA also said given the location, down towards Maketu, they wouldn't be able to find any witnesses.

Sarah returned to the scene today intent on burying the dogs, but the sack was gone.

A pet lover herself, Sarah says it was a 'horrible sight”, especially as it was such a large quantity of puppies.

'It was pretty sad,” she adds. 'I don't know why people don't go and get their dogs fixed if they can't keep them.”