It’s common practice for people to drop unwanted animals off in the country to fend for themselves. I see so many emaciated animals fearful of humans. I can only imagine how hard their lives must be. I have Luca keeping random animals away but I know many people who have had animals show up seeking help. I’ve heard of too many people finding boxes of puppies or kittens on the side of the road. The worst story is from my neighbor. She was fishing when she heard what sounded like a kitten. She rowed over to investigate and found a trash bag barely floating in the water. There was a small hole in the corner of the plastic bag with a tiny kitten nose sticking out. Horrified, she pulled the bag from the water and found it full of dead kittens, the last one only lived due to the hole in the bag and standing on top of it’s dead littermates. People who do this type of thing are disgusting. Fortunately, for that last kitten she found a forever home. Most of these stories don’t end well. Here’s one that does:
This post is from Christmas 2015.
Tis the season for people to drop unwanted animals off in the country to fend for themselves. I found this little baby (pictured below) running in the middle of the highway two days before Christmas. He was running as fast as he could ahead of an eighteen wheeler truck who actually swerved not to hit the baby. I’m pretty sure both the truck driver and I screamed at that moment. The baby scampered off the highway and I quickly pulled over, jumped out and pursued him.
With quite a bit of effort I was able to catch him. He was fast for being so young and I had to chase him into a small stream before he finally gave up and rolled over. He was a tiny, snarling ball of fleas. I held him close while he shivered. I went to the nearest house and asked if he was theirs – he wasn’t. The poor baby was scared, wet and skinny and I had no idea how long he’d been left out in the elements.
The vet thought he wasn’t even 6 weeks old. Once the puppy calmed down and was flea-free with a full belly he’s started to play and cuddle and he slept a lot.
I had seen three posts earlier that day from other rural people saying they’d found puppies who had been dropped off in the country. These are the lucky babies who were found by good people. Christmas miracles.
I found a home for him in days. My wonderful neighbors adoped him and I don’t think he’s missed me for a second. They said they wanted him be an outside dog. Clearly, the little guy had other ideas.
I love this picture his family took of him surveying his toys and all the items he’s stolen from around their house. It’s like he can’t believe it’s real. It’s hard to believe that this baby was alone, starving, covered in fleas and ticks and now he’s surrounded by love with a family of his own. It’s my favorite kind of Christmas story.
UPDATE:
I love seeing “Archie” playing with his girls. They ride their four wheeler around and he rides right along with them. He’s grown into a large, beautiful boy. And to think, it was only a year ago he was homeless, hungry and cold until a stranger found him. Miracles are proof of how your whole life can transform in an instant.
Aren’t happy endings wonderful?