When we got a call that a nursing mom dog was running loose on MacDonald Avenue, we headed over in that direction. Turns out that Cookie is a neighborhood dog, left behind by her owners, and that she had given birth to pups in the dirt under a shed in a backyard nearby. The shed was at the back of the yard, and was barely a few inches off the ground so no one could reach the pups and no-one had even seen them, they could just hear them yelping. And mama Cookie was spending her time making sure no raccoons or local dogs were getting near her precious babes. We asked the family if they would like help getting the pups out from under the shed and they said yes. Part of the problem is that the older the pups got without human handling, the harder it would be to socialize them. Luckily the mom is such an incredibly social dog, she let us poke and prod around till we located the pups underneath the old unused outhouse. But we still had to get them out, so while Cookie was off barking every time a firecracker went off - every few minutes - or if the dogs next door barked, London got down on her hands and knees and used a snare to pull each one of the 4 pups out. Finally, after an hour and a half all four were in a warm bed for the first time in their lives and after Cookie did a head count and made sure they were all there, she climbed in and started cleaning them. They were chunky and healthy aside from the fleas and the wormy bellies, so tonight they got a first dose of de-wormer and well be needing an experienced foster home to take care of this precious family. Once the pups are weaned, we will spay and vaccinate mama dog and return her to the family, and if they have great homes for the pups well start them on vaccines and return them also. If they need help placing some, well take care of that! Building trust in a community is key to us being able to help the pets who need us to be there for them.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 06:56:30 +0000