They’d been fending for themselves for days đź’”
A man was recently driving through an orchard near Fresno, California, when he noticed a little family of dogs off to the side of the road. As he got closer and spotted the mama, he realized she was guarding seven tiny puppies.
While the man wanted to help, there were too many dogs for him to take, and the mama dog was too scared to come with him. He reached out to Helga Weiss, president of Paw Squad 559 and co-founder of California Spay and Neuter, for help. Before he left, he dropped a pin to the dogs’ location and left them food and water.
Helga Weiss
Weiss told the concerned man she’d come get the dogs first thing in the morning. That night, she couldn’t sleep.
“[A]ll I could think about was the puppies and the poor mom trying to defend her children,” Weiss told The Dodo.
Helga Weiss
The next morning, when Weiss arrived, she spoke to a local ranch worker who’d been feeding the dogs. It was thanks to him that they’d survived several days outside on their own. The ranch worker broke the sad news to Weiss that one of the babies in the litter had been taken by a coyote.
The mama dog was understandably extremely wary of strangers. It took Weiss two and a half hours of sitting with her and feeding her sausages before she trusted her. When she finally realized Weiss was there to help, she completely transformed, and Weiss began to cry out of sheer relief and exhaustion.
Helga Weiss
“As soon as I picked her up and loaded her up into my car, she actually started licking the tears off my face,” Weiss said. “It was adorable.”
Weiss receives over 100 animal rescue calls a day — an utterly overwhelming number. Weiss emphasized that the best way to address the stray and abandoned animals crisis is spaying and neutering cats and dogs.
The mama dog and her seven babies went to stay with a foster mom named Christie West, organized by Save-A-Mutt rescue. Soon after they arrived in West’s care, West noticed something was a bit off. She took them to the vet, who diagnosed the puppies with parvo, a highly contagious, often fatal virus.
Christie West
West cared for the puppies around the clock, worried they weren’t going to make it. Save-A-Mutt rescue funded their parvo treatment, pouring over $11,000 into their care — anything to make sure the puppies made it.
Thanks to Christie and Save-A-Mutt’s care and dedication as well as a new parvo treatment injection, the puppies not only pulled through, but are now thriving.
“The beautiful thing about it is they’re all alive,” West said. “They’re happy, they’re healthy. They’re just adorable.”
Christie West
The mama dog is named Mother Goose, and all her puppies are named after fairy-tale characters. In about a month, they’ll be transferred to Save-A-Mutt‘s in-person facility in Washington, where they’ll all be available for adoption.
Save-a-Mutt
In the meantime, West is looking forward to finally getting to cuddle the puppies. When she had to adhere to strict parvo protocol, she could only touch them with a gown and gloves on. But now, they’ll finally get to be shown the affection they deserve.
“I’m going to be loving on [them] all weekend,” West said.
To support Paw Squad 559, you can donate here. To support Save-A-Mutt and learn more about adopting the dogs, you can check out their website here.
