This is the heartbreaking moment newborn puppies were discovered buried under the ground after strangers heard their faint cries.

The poor little dogs were unearthed by Martin Reyes and his friend at a vacant lot inside their subdivision in Bulacan, the Philippines, on December 13.

He said they were travelling home when they heard puppies crying and began scraping at the earth with their hands to free them.

Martin said: "We checked the entire lot but it was empty, so we followed the sounds. It was coming from the ground."

They found three newborn puppies buried under the ground with their dead mother.

The one who was buried deeper than the two was already dead when they dug him out of the manmade grave.

They took the other two home, but one of them died a few days later because it was sick with Parvovirus. The white puppy is the only one that is alive. She is staying with Martin.

He said: "I will name her Paris. I don't want to get too attached to her now so I am not yet giving her a name."

Martin said it might because the owner knew the puppies' mother was sick, the dogs were abandoned.

The incident was reported to the local authorities.