Cats may have nine lives, but some puppies involved in a Wisconsin traffic accident this week have at least two.

First, a Minneapolis-based animal rescue group agreed to take them from a shelter in a southern state where they likely would have been euthanized.

But, as three volunteers transported the 66 dogs Sunday, their cargo van hit a patch of ice on Interstate 39-90 and struck a guardrail under the Highway 59 overpass near Edgerton.

Some kennels broke. But volunteer Janine Campbell of the Safe Hands Rescue group says most of the animals were too scared to leave their cages.

One puppy was missing. Firefighters found her half an hour later, frozen to the driver's-side wheel well. A broken jug had spilled water on her fur.

A tow truck moved the van to the Hillside Springs Hunt Club. Owner Andy Walton quickly loaded the puppies into the club's kennel and called his veterinarian, Terry Johnson.

Johnson brought food and supplies. And a Madison rescue group, The Twig Project, donated more. The Twig Project also took some puppies that needed extra care.

The puppies were ready for a second van to take them to Minnesota yesterday, except for the one that had been stuck to the wheel well. Johnson and his wife adopted her.