Animal Rescuers Saved A Dog From Drowning During Floods In Kerala

Animal rescuers saved a dog’s life from drowning in Kottayam, Kerala. The incident took place on July 17, 2018, when an animal rescuer, Shwetha received a call from a person for help. He said their neighbors had left their dog locked up in its kennel when they left their flooding house.

Shwetha and her husband Bijil, who works as an animal rescuer, went to rescue the dog with some animal lovers in Thazhathangadi.

“We had to stop our car one-and-a-half km away from the house as the water was around 3 feet deep. Somehow, we reached the house and had to jump the wall as the gate was locked. Finally, we reached the kennel.”

The dog was scared inside the kennel with only half its head visible above the water.

“There was a piece of wood floating in the water and he was holding onto it with his paws. If not for it, he wouldn’t have been able to stand upright for that long. The neighbor told us that he had been in that position for at least two-and-a-half days.”

Dog rescue

Rescuers took the dog out of the kennel. The dog looked scared and fell limply into the arms of the rescuer from complete exhaustion.   

“His body was ice cold and his arms and legs were not moving. His nails were falling off.”

They carried him all the way to the car and immediately drove to the hospital. But the dog was still out.

“All of a sudden, the sun shone for a few minutes. Slowly, he lifted his head. Exposure to sunlight seemed to make him feel better,” says Shwetha.

After reaching the hospital, the doctor put him on drips and gave him antibiotics.

“A few more hours and he would have been surely dead, was what the doctor told us. All day we kept him warm with hot water bottles and by night, he was better and ate a little food. We named him Guppy, as he had been rescued from the water,” said Shwetha.

Guppy is now walking about and is normal but he is still coughing, and the doctor hopes that he doesn’t develop an infection. Unfortunately, Guppy’s isn’t the only case of pets being left home alone by uncaring owners.

“We found another dog in the same area in a cage, half submerged in water. And there were people in the house! We offered to move the dog inside the house but the lady there refused, saying she has to ask her husband first. Thankfully, when we called up later, the neighbor said the dog had been moved to the terrace. But this is the case with many flooded houses,” added Shwetha.

All that we ask from people, she says, is to give their pets a chance.

“You might not be in a position to take your pets with you but at least let them free before you go. It takes hardly a minute and they will somehow survive until you come back. And if you ever see an animal in such a situation, please report it to someone who can help, or free the animal yourselves. It’s a slow and painful way to die,” is what Shwetha has to tell everyone in the times of flooding.

Reference: The Times Of India

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