There’s nothing more heart-wrenching than coming across an abandoned dog, and when that dog is injured, it becomes a matter of urgency to make sure the pooch is safe and well.
Now, imagine that you came across this injured dog in Botswana.
Botswana is a South African country with limited water and a very dry, desert-like climate. As if this wasn’t challenging enough, it’s also home to some of the most dangerous animals on the planet!
We’re talking lions, cheetahs, wild dogs, and rhinos.
It’s no place for an abandoned pooch.
But luckily, this little dog was in the right place at the right time.
A team of volunteers for a project called Eco Exist was working in the northern Okavango region in remote Botswana.
The project’s aims are to reduce conflict and foster coexistence between elephants and people, so Susanne Vogel and her team certainly weren’t expecting to come across a stray dog during their research.
But shockingly, that’s exactly what happened.
Researchers couldn’t believe it when a paralyzed puppy dragged herself into their remote camp one day. The poor little thing, named Poppy, was terribly injured and needed urgent help.
She had spotted the team of volunteers and had bravely approached them in a desperate plea for them to help her.
It was a complete mystery as to how this miracle pooch had survived so far in an environment full of deadly predators. The volunteer knew that they needed to act now. Susanne said,
“She came crawling — literally crawling because her back legs were completely immobilized — into our research camp. She was unable to walk, but full of love and seeking help.”
Just look at how she sits, with her little legs crossed like a human’s!
The volunteers examined Poppy’s injuries and decided that she must have been in some kind of accident, which had brutally crushed her spine and left her lower half completely paralyzed.
They cleaned her and fed her, and they probably showed her more love than any human being has done in a long time. The volunteers then put Poppy in their car and took her to the nearest vets.
It was going to be a tense moment as they found out whether she was going to survive or not, but despite probably being in an extraordinary amount of pain, brave Poppy just can’t keep the smile off her face.
The vets discovered that little Poppy was only around seven months old. They said that her survival rates were very low. But the volunteers knew that Poppy was special.
She was a fighter.
Poppy started rehabilitation exercises to strengthen her back legs.
Amazingly, the volunteers managed to raise over $10,000, which would go toward helping their special little fighter to get stronger and hopefully survive.
After lots of therapy, Poppy could now stand on all four legs for a few seconds at a time. What an amazing transformation.
She paid another visit to the vets, who unfortunately gave the sad news that Poppy’s spine couldn’t be operated on.
However, since doing her therapy, Poppy was no longer showing any signs of pain — and that was the most important thing.
The clever girl was fitted with her own set of wheels to help her race around. Just look at her go!
Things were looking up — and that wasn’t all. Poppy was about to be adopted!
MaryBeth Hastings from Washingon, D.C, decided that she loved Poppy so much, she would bring her back to the States with her.
The little pup now shares a loving home with the Hastings family and lives a life that’s drastically different from the one we used to have.
We’re so happy that Poppy finally got her happy ending.
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