Human Interest Human interest Cariboo puppy rescued from garbage bag
Cariboo puppy rescued from garbage bag
| Human interest |
By LeRae Haynes
One Cariboo resident brought all-new meaning to ‘dog rescue’ yesterday when she left her cane behind, scrambled under a barbed wire fence and retrieved a garbage bag containing three puppies: two dead and one barely alive.
For two days, her two German Shepherds had been barking and whining more than usual. “I have about 30 deer that live in my barn, and sometimes ‘my girls’ like to parade their babies in front of me,” she said. “They’ve been known to hide their fawns in a patch of long, thick grass on the other side of the fence—I just blew it off and ignored the dogs.”
The homeowner, who prefers not to use her name, said that she is disabled and uses a cane or walker to get around. “By the third day, my female Shepherd was so adamant and so ‘antsy’, and neither dog had been themselves during the night,” she explained. “I thought, ‘if I have to crawl, I’m going to find out what’s out there.’”
She said that her dogs were barking and whining and that when she hollered at them to be quiet, she heard whimpering from the opposite direction. “I spotted a knotted garbage bag lying in the grass on the other side of the fence and it was moving.
“I climbed and scrambled under the fence, tearing my shirt and grabbed the bag and ripped it open,” she said. “There were two dead puppies inside, and in an instant, a tiny, live one popped up between them.
“The heavy garbage bags were doubled. I pulled her out of the ‘bag of stench’ and limped back home, carrying her in one arm and the bag in the other.”
She said that she left the bag at the edge of the driveway so she could get to it later, and took the puppy past her year-and-a-half-old male German shepherd, who licked and nuzzled the limp baby. “He looked at me as if to say, ‘See what we were trying to tell you? What took you so long?’”
She said that she brought the puppy into the house, gaunt and limp, and immediately put 6cc of fluid into her. “I put her on a heating pad with a blanket and went back outside, feeling that my two kittens would keep the puppy from feeling all alone,” she continued.
The two siblings were buried next to the home owner’s 195 lb St. Bernard she lost just over a year ago.
“After I buried them, I hurried back to the house, saying, ‘please, be alive, please be alive,’ to myself.
“She was fine—she looked up at me and I picked her up, wrapped her in a towel (she smelled terrible), and hugged and cuddled her. I tried to give her water, but she just stretched out on the towel beside me and slept for three hours.”
The woman named the puppy ‘Bella’s Hope.’
“I made a mash with yogurt, chicken and dog food to get her started. I helped her hold it in her mouth until she figured out it was something she could chew.”
She figures that Bella’s Hope is between 5-7 weeks old and is at least ¾ pit bull. Washed and revived, the pup is a beautiful brindle colour.
“She is affectionate and friendly—almost starved for attention,” said Bella’s rescuer. “She scampers around outside: today she tried to attack a bee, tried to kill a dandelion and acts like she’s never seen grass.”
Update June 11, 2012 9:07pm: Since this story went live, there have been some developments that we are following up on.
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