One day, a rescuer named Donna who worked at Stray Rescue of St. Louis saw a female dog walking around by herself. As soon as Donna saw the pup, she knew she wanted to save her.
When she got a closer look at the dog, Donna realized that she was engorged with milk—she was clearly a mom with young puppies who were still nursing. As soon as Donna saw that, her mission changed: now, she had a whole family to save.
Donna put down a pile of food, and the hungry dog quickly came over to eat. Donna hoped the mama dog would lead her to her puppies. And that was just what happened—once the mom was full, she walked back into a brush-filled area in the woods.
When Donna got into the woods, she heard puppies crying in every direction.
After a moment, the confused rescuer realized she wasn’t hearing multiple puppies—she was hearing the echo of one puppy crying. She followed the sound to a pipe in the ground. When she looked down, she saw a scared puppy trapped inside, crying desperately for her mom.
Donna soothed the puppy and then reached down and picked her up. Once the puppy was in the car, her tail started wagging—she was so grateful to be safe!
Donna suspected there were more puppies, but now she had to find them. The mom barked deep in the woods, and Donna followed the sound, hoping it would lead her to the rest of the puppies. Her hunch worked—when she reached the source of the bark, she found four puppies roaming around in the brush.
The puppies were six weeks old and very mobile, making it tough for Donna to get them all. Slowly but surely, she transferred all four wiggly puppies to the jeep, where they were happily reunited with their sister.
Now, the only dog left to get was the mom. But when Donna went back out into the woods, she found that the puppies’ mom had disappeared. She waited for her hours, but the dog never reappeared. Finally, Donna decided to come back the next day for the mom.
The next day, Donna and her friend went back to the same area.
They quickly spotted the puppies’ mom, and she wasn’t alone—she had another female dog with her. At first, Donna thought the dogs were friends, but she later realized that the other pup was an adult dog from another litter.
The two rescuers put out a trap for the dogs, hoping to entice them with food. They were able to get the new female dog this way, but the mama dog wouldn’t come. After trying all day to get her, the rescuers had to admit defeat and leave.
The next day, the rescuers were determined to get the mama dog. They came up with a great plan: they would put the puppies’ soiled blankets in a cage, hoping the dog’s maternal instincts would kick in.
The plan worked—a couple hours later, the mama dog went into the trap!
“It’s just the most awesome feeling to know she’s not out there by herself anymore,” Donna said as she put the mama dog into the van.
The rescuers brought the dog to the Stray Rescue of St. Louis, where she had a joyful reunion with all her puppies. Now, the rescue organization will look after the family until they’re ready to go their forever homes. These sweet dogs are finally in a safe place!
If you’d like to learn more about the rescue of this family, check out the video below.
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