“[S]he was just sitting quietly there, waiting for someone to come and get her …”
Published on Oct 3, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Early in the morning a few months ago, the Benton-Franklin Humane Society staff arrived at the shelter to find a dog tied up to the back door. The dog was lying there next to the AC unit, looking lost and dejected.
“[S]he was just sitting quietly there, waiting for someone to come and get her,” Julie Saraceno, a volunteer at Benton-Franklin Humane Society, told The Dodo.
The humane society staff quickly untied the dog and brought her inside. Upon reviewing their security footage, they were heartbroken to learn that the pup had been abandoned in the middle of the night.
“[S]he was there for at least six hours,” Saraceno said.
The staff members were unfortunately unable to identify the man who left her outside the shelter, so they don’t know anything about her backstory. They estimated that she was about 2 years old and found that she didn’t have any health concerns other than being underweight.
Understandably, the dog, whom the staff named Tinkerbell, was anxious and overwhelmed for her first few days at the rescue. But it was clear that beneath Tinkerbell’s scared exterior, she was sweet and affectionate.
“[S]he was very timid and scared, but she was still very trusting and very loving,” Saraceno said. “She’s a very cuddly dog.”
Saraceno took her on a little ice cream excursion to give her a break from the shelter environment. At first, Tinkerbell had no idea what the ice cream cone was. But when Saraceno demonstrated by taking a lick of the ice cream herself, Tinkerbell figured out what to do.
Repost of Tinkerbell’s day out, since I’m still sick and she’s still looking for a home.♬ original sound – Julie Saraceno
“That’s when she was like, ‘Oh, this is actually quite delightful. This is not scary. I do like ice cream,’” Saraceno said.
As Tinkerbell gradually came out of her shell, the humane society’s staff and volunteers fell in love with her more and more. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take long for an adopter to fall in love with her as well. The day Tinkerbell went home with her new mom, it was clear how happy and excited she was.
While Saraceno didn’t get to be there the day Tinkerbell got adopted, she was overjoyed to hear the news. Tinkerbell’s adopter sent Saraceno a photo of the pup on the way home, looking totally content and at peace.
“I [was], like, crying happy tears … It means so much to me,” Saraceno said.
Just a few months ago, Tinkerbell was heartbroken, abandoned and terrified. Now, her life is utterly unrecognizable and she’s finally safe, happy and loved.
If you’d like to support the Benton-Franklin Humane Society, you can make a donation here.
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Guy Notices Long Tail Sticking Out Of Manhole Cover — Then Sees It Move
“I got a little emotional because so many people stopped to help.”
A few years ago, humane snake wrangler Bruce Ireland got a call about a gopher snake stuck in a manhole cover. When Ireland arrived at the scene in San Diego, California, he saw a long, scaly tail sticking out from a small hole in the plate.
At first, the snake wasn’t moving at all, so Ireland began to fear the worst. He didn’t know how long the animal had been there or how much stress he’d been put through.
But after a few seconds, the snake’s tail moved. Ireland breathed a sigh of relief — there was a chance he could save him.
Even though the manhole cover was incredibly heavy, Ireland managed to lift it up. He started trying to gently guide the snake out of the hole, but he was struggling. It was difficult to hold the cover up with one hand while helping the reptile with the other.
At that very moment, a curious woman walked by. Even though the woman was terrified of snakes, Ireland asked if she’d be willing to set aside her fear to help him. To Ireland’s surprise, she said yes.
“[S]he got up the courage, and I was able to start trying to see if this snake was going to budge at all,” Ireland said in a video for The Dodo.
The woman had some Vaseline in her bag, so Ireland tried applying it to the snake’s body in an attempt to slide him out. But still, the snake didn’t budge.
“[E]ven while we were working on him, he was amazingly calm,” Ireland said. “Never panicked.”
After working to free the snake for almost an hour, Ireland started to worry he wasn’t going to succeed. But then, another woman walked by who happened to have baby oil on her. Ireland and the woman used the baby oil to gently push the snake through the opening.
“I just helped her,” Ireland said. “Slowly, slowly, slowly, slowly, slowly, and all of a sudden … the snake came out.”
Ireland was overjoyed to finally hold the reptile in his hands.
“I got a little emotional because so many people stopped to help,” Ireland said. “I literally almost got teary-eyed.”
Despite everything the snake had been through, he thankfully wasn’t injured. Ireland held onto the animal for a day, just to make sure he was OK.
“I brought him home and gave him a bath to get all that oil off him, and then I just monitored him for the next 24 hours,” Ireland said.
The next day, Ireland released the snake near where he’d found him. As the snake slithered away, Ireland reflected on how grateful he was to have helped the wild animal return to his home.
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She knew she had to help.
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