Friday, January 08, 2010

A Puppy in Need--A true story

One cold day, a foxhunt turned into a rescue mission for one very needy puppy. The history of this puppy’s life before this day is unknown. Abandoned and left to fend for himself, no one knows his owner’s reasoning for not taking him to a shelter or trying to find him a home. This is his story.
On the day in question, a Whipper-in (a person who helps with the hounds on a hunt) alerted the huntsman that a young, ribs showing, black and white puppy was hiding in a pile of trash near a busy road. The puppy appeared to be lost and in need of care. The huntsman, being a true foxhunter and dog lover, immediately asked the road whips to check on the situation.
Two drove to the site. One watched over the puppy, coaxing him out of the bushes with a breakfast bar, while the other raced home to get a crate, some water and dog kibble. Through skilled handling by these two people the puppy regained a bit of trust in humans and even managed to wag his tail. He allowed himself to be gently nestled in the crate. Once there, the road whip rushed him to the local vet for treatment.
Found to be severely dehydrated, starving and in need of extensive medical care, the doctors did what they could to stabilize him and then asked what should be done. The road whip and the huntsman’s natural instinct was to give him the chance he deserved and they accepted responsibility for the puppy’s hospital care.
This is not unusual behavior for foxhunters. Foxhunters are known to be caretakers of the land and its’ animals. They treat the wild as wild, respect the natural survival skills of wild creatures and work hard to preserve the open country and habitats of all animals. They also accept the responsibility of caring for domesticated creatures. Most foxhunters have an ark’s worth of adopted, rescued, and retired pets. The huntsman, being the epitome of a foxhunter, even volunteered to adopt this puppy when and if he became well enough to go to a forever home.
This puppy could have been ignored and left to suffer the lonely fate his previous owner had chosen for him. He needed so little, a gentle hand, food to fill a tummy, water, and he responded with trust and love when offered a helping hand by the hunt members. He showed he appreciated everything with a grateful wag and a gentle lick of his tongue.
Unfortunately, we will never know what a fine dog he might have become. Because of a road whip, a huntsman, a vet and others, this puppy, who suffered so much in his short life, knew the love of caring humans as he left this world. This is the end of his story but if this one small puppy could talk, I think he would say thank you to people like those who help one in need. He would tell us we are lucky to have people like them in our community. The puppy died two days after his rescue.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

hmmm thats an emotional piece - well written.

J.C. Towler said...

"An ark's worth". Love it.

Touching story, Deborah. How we treat animals tells much about ourselves, though strangely, kindness to animals doesn't always translate into kindness to each other.

Dogs are special because they are among the few animals that seem to have developed emotions other species lack. I think they develop closer bonds with people.

Thanks for sharing.

--John

Donald Conrad said...

Sad story. If people loved as unconditionally as dogs do, the world would be so much better. Thanks for sharing this and welcome to #fridayflash.

You should go back to the #fridayflash collector and fix the typo in your link. I noticed the extra "n" right off.

Misty Hill said...

Hey Donald, I'd go back and fix it, but I don't know how. LOL I'm surprised I can even do this.
Michelle, John, glad this piece "spoke" to you. I wanted to remind everyone that this time of year bad things happen, weather seaming to make things worse. Not just to animals, but most people will read about animals and I hope, perhaps do as John mentions, and be kinder to humans, too.

Misty Hill said...

Oh, that should be "seeming".

Donald Conrad said...

I DM'd Jon on Twitter about your link.

J. M. Strother said...

Very touching, Deborah. I'm sorry it did not have a better outcome. I a real softy when it comes to dogs, so your really got me in the heart with this.

I fixed the typo in your link, so hopefully you'll get a few more click throughs. Sorry it took so long, but I was at the Vet, taking care of my own little guy.

Welcome to #fridayflash. Hope you come back again and again. :)
~jon

Linda said...

YAY!

Welcome to fridayflash!

I always love your animal tales, and this is no exception. "An ark's worth." Such a great little line that tells so much.

Peace, Linda

Deanna said...

Such a sad, sad story Deborah. I'm glad you shared it and I hope those who "need" to hear this come across it and really listen. There's not much worse than watching God's wonderful creatures fade away because of selfish people.
Welcome to #fridayflash!

Laurita said...

A touching story, and I'm sorry the outcome wasn't happier. I do like a tale that shows the better side of human nature and creatures that share our planet.

Misty Hill said...

Thank you all for reading. Jon,xx's for fixing my mistake. :)
Donald thanks for alerting Jon. This was a sad happening, but hopefully it will open some eyes.
Deborah