Five tiny white puppies have been orphaned because their mother was hit by a vehicle on a private lane off West Mercer Way on the South end of the Island two weeks ago.

Allegra, a 7-year-old bichon frise, was killed in a hit and run in the one-lane roadway between 3 and 4:30 p.m. on May 9 in the 6800 block of West Mercer Way.

“It’s painful,” said the dogs’ owner, Lisa Strauch Eggers, who serves on the School Board, “but the response from the community has been incredible.”

Shortly after the family had Allegra cremated, word about Allegra must have spread, because the Strauch-Eggers, a family of six, began to receive flowers, cards and chocolates from friends and neighbors.

“It’s such a tribute to the community. I don’t know how they found out. It’s amazing how people take care of each other,” Strauch Eggers said.

Five weeks ago, Allegra gave birth to a litter of five puppies and she was still nursing them at the time of her death. Strauch Eggers said she left Allegra in the house that day to nurse the pups until her son, Sam, came home from Islander Middle School and let the dog out. When Sam went outside to play with a friend a little more than an hour later, he saw Allegra lying in the road, dead.

Members of the family said they feel blessed to have the puppies and they plan to keep one of them. Strauch Eggers said she had sold two before Allegra died and two more are for sale.

“The puppies are like tonic for the soul,” Eggers said. “But it’s exhausting because in addition to doing all the regular responsibilities of having puppies I have to be their mom now. This Mother’s Day, I was a mother of eight.”

Allegra, a bichon frise, commonly called a “curly lap dog” because of its French translation, was roughly 18 pounds, about as big as the breed will get.

Lucas, another of Strauch Eggers’ sons, came up with Allegra’s name while he was taking violin lessons. One of the songs he was practicing was marked “allegra” — a brisk and lively tempo — which reminded him of the dog’s personality.

“She was my little girl,” Eggers said. “I have (four) boys, but she was my little girl.”