Dozens of domesticated mice that were cruelly tossed down a storm drain in Greenport on Sunday are safe at the North Fork Animal Welfare League and headed to a sanctuary because somebody saw something and said something.

A husband and wife driving through Greenport noticed “suspicious” activity at the corner of First and South streets: two people appeared to be emptying a small white garbage can into a storm drain. The wife was unsettled, but her husband thought they should keep going. Still uneasy a half hour later, they circled back. Peering through the iron grate, the woman saw dozens of “little creatures” moving at the bottom of the drain.

She called the wife of NFAWL Director of Operations Gabby Stroup, who dispatched staffers Dylan Thompsen and Tammy Riddick to the scene, and soon the police and fire department were called in.

Southold police officer James Crosser was sitting in the radio room when the call came in.

“It was a curious one, because they said, ‘somebody put gerbils down the storm drain,’” Crosser said on Wednesday. “I thought, ‘gerbils — that’s kind of weird.’”

He arrived on the scene and after the storm drain grate was unbolted and removed, gamely ventured underground.

“I wish I could say it was my first time in a storm drain, but it was not.”

By then a crowd had gathered on the corner, according to Crosser.

“Dylan and Tammy from the shelter were super helpful,” he said. “I was able to just pick them up, one by one, and they just scooped them into boxes and got them to the shelter … people like them honestly work so hard, and all they want to do is just see that whatever animal needs help gets the help. So it’s a cool thing to be able to team up on.”

Crosser said the woman’s call unquestionably saved the animals’ lives.

“They were going to die. It was cold. They were not going to make it.”

Police are checking area surveillance cameras, Crosser said.

“Unfortunately, the young lady that witnessed all of it was so concerned about the animals that she wasn’t able to get a license plate.”

As is often the case with crime witnesses, the emotion of the moment can blur even recent memories.

“The husband said the guy was short and fat,” Stroup said, “and the wife said he was tall and thin.”

Since the rescue, some of the mice have had babies and now number about 50 in all, Stroup said. After the story was first reported by Riverhead Patch, a New Jersey-based small-animal sanctuary contacted NFAWL and offered to help.

“They said, ‘We specialize in small animal rescue. We’ll take them all,’” Stroup said.