After rescue group Hope For Paws learned there were puppies living alone in a cave, they didn’t hesitate to jump into action. Soon though, it turned into a heart-pounding mission that was captured on film.
Several team members had been attending their friend Lisa Ashe’s funeral when a call about the pups came in. They knew exactly what to do. As an honor to Lisa (who loved animals), they went to save them.
It was believed that there were approximately eight young puppies residing in a cave. But even worse, their mother was a feral dog and wasn’t anywhere to be found.
At first, the rescuers tried to lure the puppies out by giving them pieces of a cheeseburger. The technique seemed to be working and they were able to grab a hold of one through the cave’s opening.
But suddenly, something frightened the rest and they disappeared deeper inside. It quickly became clear they’d have to try and get them out a different way.
One of the rescuers crawled into the tunnel where he was able to locate the pups. However, since they were out of reach he had to use a snare to try and fish them out.
Their method worked several times allowing them to rescue the second, third, and fourth puppy.
Sadly, the poor creatures were frightened when they reached safety – as they hadn’t experienced a human’s touch before.
Just as they were making progress the mission took a frustrating turn. The rest of the puppies traveled a lot deeper into the cave and out of the rescuers’ reach.
On the video, they say:
“We calculated that they were 6 ft. to the north and 12 ft. to the west.”
Being that they were 18 ft. in, Hope For Paws decided the best route was to dig a new tunnel to reach the pups. They had to be very careful though not to cause a collapse.
Once again the male rescuer wedged himself into the tunnel looking for the dogs. Amazingly, he grabs puppy number five – but in order to get out, the others had to pull on his legs.
The unbelievable footage that’s captured shows just how courageous the rescuer really is. It’s apparent that the tunnel is tight and the mission is dangerous – yet, he continues forward for the sake of the litter.
Over and over the animals are pulled out using the same strenuous technique. After they’ve finally rescued all eight puppies, the man decides to crawl in and double-check there aren’t more…
Sure enough, he hears a sound. There was one puppy they didn’t know about.
Using his snare, the rescuer’s able to grab onto puppy number nine and bring him outside as well. It turned out to be the runt of the litter.
Incredibly, Hope For Paws was successful in rescuing all of the pups that day. But as they point out in the video:
“This rescue mission isn’t over yet… We are still actively trying to save their feral mother. People have been trying to catch her for five years without success!”
In the end, they show the pups with a surrogate mom named Olive, looking happy and healthy. All of it is thanks to a group of people that have really big hearts.
They also shared how the pups were put up for adoption to find their forever homes.
It’s a rescue that’s been viewed more than 29 million times online. Watch the adrenaline-filled footage for yourself below!
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