With the continuing rise in temperature due to global warming, summer is becoming a grueling experience everywhere. Nowadays, even just a couple of hours outside at the height of summer is unbearable. Today’s story is about an incident that takes place on just such a day. In 2022, a woman was out and about a particularly sunny hillside when she spotted an animal lying there. She saw the animal at the same spot for three days back to back. Initially, she had mistaken the silhouette for a coyote. However, seeing the animal refusing to move, she took a closer inspection. She found out that it was a dog.
The dog was not entirely unfamiliar to the woman. She had seen Facebook posts by neighbors that had posted its appearance during the past two weeks. However, none of them claimed the animal as “missing”. The woman could not bear to leave the animal out in the heat. So she reached out to Suzette Hall, a person specializing in wildlife rescue. When Hall arrived at the scene, the sun had gotten even stronger. It was so on the day that Hall herself felt dizzy; however that made her think that the poor dog must have been feeling even worse.
The First Contact
Hall got to work on her mission to bring the dog to a safer place. She brought a trapping cage and the biggest water jug she could find. As she got closer, she could clearly see that the dog “hadn’t had water in days.” When she reached her, Hall left a few treats in the trap and set aside a large water-filled bowl. The dog drank every drop of the water. However, she would refuse to enter the trap. Hall describes: “She would go in a little bit and then go lay back out in the sun.”
Nevertheless, after a while, the dog understood Hall’s kind intentions. She began wiggling her tail every time Hall came to check up on her. Hall realized that the dog had recognized and trusted her. Eventually, the dog let Hall come close enough to talk directly. However, getting her into the trap still seemed impossible. That is until Hall came back with some new treats.
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Once inside the trap, Hall got the best look yet at the poor dog. She identified her as a 7-month-old Malinois puppy. The dog did not stop trembling inside the cage. However, she would still wag her tail when she saw Hall close by. Hall gave her the name “Sunshine” – because of the weather as well as for being “a bright light of sunshine”. Afterwards, four firemen volunteered to carry Sunshine, while inside her cage, down the hill, and finally into some shade. Hall and the woman who had originally found her could not be prouder at the moment.
The Animal’s Rehabilitation Is Underway
Hall explained that Sunshine remained scared of the new environment after the rescue. However, even if she kept shaking she would let people pet her. She explained that Sunshine’s behavior is usual for animals that have been living on the streets for a very long time. As for her origin, none in the neighborhood could give any clues. Hall believes that Sunshine has possibly been outside for her entire life. Her lack of social skills leads Halls to infer so.
Following the rescue, Hall took Sunshine to the vet. There, they gave her a personal space where she could decompress. Hall says that the clinic’s vet technicians did not spare any moment when they could shower love and care on her. As such, Sunshine became much more comfortable with humans.
After the decompression, Sunshine should have gone to an experienced foster parent’s home. The person had dealt with many cases similar to Sunshine and had helped them blossom. After that, Sunshine should have been ready to get adopted into a loving family where she would be living forever. Unfortunately, we could not find out for sure whether Sunshine’s rescue went completely according to plan. However, just getting Sunshine out alive after three days under the blazing sun is a considerable miracle, according to Hall.
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