When Mama was abandoned in a dried-out river in Redlands, California, she was terrified and refused to allow any humans near her. Sometimes, strangers would leave behind food or even bowls of cereal for her, but she never trusted them and only ate if they left her alone.
Six months later, Mama had been reduced to mere skin and bones. All seemed to be going downhill for this lonely pup, but finally, a kind soul took a photo of her and posted it on Facebook, asking for help for the poor dog. The plea was answered by Faith Easdale of Dream Fetchers: Project Rescue.
Before Easdale could try to catch Mama, two others who had spotted the Facebook post were able to secure her first. Grateful, Easdale met up with them and took Mama in. She could see that it looked like Mama had given birth only a short while ago, but repeated searches of the area didn’t reveal any puppies, so Easdale assumed she’d observed incorrectly.
Despite Mama’s prior fear of everyone, she was clearly happy to finally be safe from the outside world. She snuggled close to Easdale, seeming desperate for human contact. But the morning after, Easdale looked down and realized that Mama had begun to produce milk. This meant that she certainly had babies, and they had gone a whole night without their mother.
Easdale rushed Mama back to the scene on a long leash, accompanied by a friend. But Mama didn’t seem to want to lead them to her puppies, and Easdale didn’t know how much time they had left. Then she thought of a brilliant idea. She whipped out her phone and went on YouTube, and began to play the sounds of puppies crying.
After what felt like a long time, Mama got up and walked over to a source of water, drank, and relaxed for a moment. Once she felt better, she leaped up and led the way straight to her little puppies. They were buried carefully, nestled into a thicket behind long tunnels through thick bushes and thorns, hidden so perfectly that they had been kept safe, warm and quiet.
Mama lay down and began to nurse her puppies, and Easdale was so relieved to see them all alive that she began to cry. Mama and her puppies are now recovering and are waiting for the time when they’ll be ready for adoption!
Images & Feature Image Source: Faith Easdale