“He’s so resilient. He took a horrible situation and he didn’t let it get him down.”
By Lily Feinn
Published on April 16, 2018 at 6:12 PM
Driving down a country road in Travelers Rest, South Carolina, Liz Heatherly spotted something unusual out the window. It took a while to realize exactly what she was looking at, but when she did, it broke her heart.
A small, black puppy, barely 10 weeks old, was hobbling down the side of the curvy back road covered in fleas and ticks — a cable tie, or zip tie, had been tightened around his jaw.
Heatherly parked the car in the first driveway she spotted, and doubled back on foot with her mom and sister. But wrangling the abandoned Lab-hound mix, who was spooked by passing cars, proved to be a difficult task.
“Once we walked back to the spot where we had seen him, he ran from us into a drainage ditch that was about 6 feet down,” Heatherly told The Dodo. “We had to slide on our bottoms to get down and my sister pulled us back up with a spare leash we had in the car.”
The family immediately snapped the nylon cord off the puppy’s mouth, revealing open sores and severe scabbing where the plastic had rubbed his skin raw, and rushed him to the nearby Cleveland Park Animal Hospital.
After a full medical exam, the vet, Dr. Bryant Phillips, determined the young pup was dehydrated, malnourished and suffering from intestinal parasites, but, in a stroke of luck, the zip tie had not caused any significant oral trauma.
Dr. Phillips estimated that the puppy had spent two to three days with his mouth clamped shut by the zip tie, according to Cleveland Park Animal Hospital.
The vet warned Heatherly that the damage to the hair follicles on the dog’s muzzle could be permanent, and, sure enough, as the scabs healed, a hairless white line appeared around the puppy’s mouth.
It didn’t take long for Heatherly to fall in love with the helpless puppy, whom she named Norman, but she worried about how her 4-year-old rescue dog, Jackson, would react to a new addition to her family.
Rescued from an abusive situation, Jackson had had a difficult history with other dogs, and enjoyed his status as an only child. “I honestly thought I would never be able to get a second dog while Jackson was still living because he HATES other dogs,” Heatherly added.
When Norman was finally ready to go home, to Heatherly’s surprise, Jackson warmed up to him immediately.
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“I’ll never forget this, but when I walked in the backyard and Norman whined in my arms, Jackson jumped up to lick him and let him know it was going to be OK,” Heatherly said. “Jackson loves Norman and it makes my heart so full looking at them playing together.”
With the help of Jackson, and under Heatherly’s care, Norman has become a happy, trusting dog once more.
“He’s so resilient. He took a horrible situation and he didn’t let it get him down,” she noted. “I honestly thought Norman would have trust issues or be afraid to let people touch around his mouth, but he has none of those issues. He is a leaping bundle of black fur that I wouldn’t trade for anything!”
Whether it’s going for daily walks with Jackson, chasing his squeaky squirrel in the backyard or comfortably napping in the sun with his belly in the air, the little dog is committed to enjoying his puppyhood to the fullest.
“Norman is extremely friendly and full of energy. He should have been named ‘Firecracker,’ because that is how he acts,” Heatherly added. “His legs are so long and he trips over them all the time. He’s goofy and loves to play 24/7.”
It’s been nearly two weeks since Heatherly rescued Norman, and the white line around his muzzle is still a constant reminder of his difficult past. His mom is doing her best to heal the pup’s painful scars, and to her surprise, little hairs are starting to sprout. “The vet wasn’t sure [Norman’s fur] would ever grow back, but we are keeping our fingers crossed that it does,” Heatherly said.
“Norman is our little miracle,” Heatherly said, “and I wouldn’t change him for the world.”
To continue following Norman’s healing journey, check out his Instagram.
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Rescuer Rushes To Car Dealership After Staff Discover Fluffy Creature Covered In Snow
“There was no place to take cover.”
By Ashley Ortiz
Kelly Smalley’s heart dropped last month as soon as she heard about a rabbit roaming a car dealership in New Haven, Michigan. As a board member of Romeo Rabbit Rescue (RRR), Smalley had fielded a similar call months earlier, during summertime, when RRR didn’t have the space to take any bunnies in.
RRR recommended other rescues that the callers could reach out to, but the bunny remained at the dealership until, one cold winter day, Smalley’s dad saw a post about him online.
“My dad saw a post on a neighborhood thread about this bunny, and knowing I do rabbit rescue, he asked me to go check it out,” Smalley told The Dodo. “It was about a week before we have extreme cold and snow coming. [The temperature] was in the 30s when I started looking.”
Smalley was immediately concerned. Had no one contacted the rescues they’d recommended over the summer? Was the bunny left to fend for himself all that time? With wintery weather imminent, Smalley knew time was running out to save him.
“I was worried about the cold weather, there was really no place for him to get cover other than under cars,” Smalley said. “There was no place to take cover.”
Smalley visited the dealership every day for nearly two weeks, carrying a net and a bag of delicious treats. Despite her best efforts to win the bunny over, he would always evade her grasp after enjoying a nibble of the food she brought.
“He would come out every time I went and would take treats from my hand,” Smalley said. “I did end up getting him in a net twice, but when I tried to get him, he escaped both times.”
You can watch footage from his rescue here:
The bunny, later named Jeepers, proved to be harder to catch than expected, but Smalley refused to give up. The rescuer brought a live trap and some more enticing food on one of her last attempts, just hours before a forecasted snowstorm.
At first, Jeepers figured out how to snag the food without activating the trap. Once Smalley moved the food further into the trap, however, her plan finally worked.
“I came back that evening after the snow stopped coming down, and he was in the trap!” Smalley said. “I was so thankful!”
Relieved, Smalley scooped up Jeepers and carried him to her warm car. She took him home that night, where the once-lonely bunny finally had a cozy place to escape the 8-inch snow pileup. The next day, the duo visited RRR’s headquarters, where Jeepers received a complete checkup.
Even though he’d been fending for himself for months in different weather conditions, Jeepers was relatively healthy. He was soon neutered, and his personality blossomed within days of being back in his foster home.
“He is very curious and loves to follow you around,” Smalley said. “We call him our puppybun!”
Jeepers is still in foster care with Smalley, but the RRR team hopes to find his forever family soon. Rehoming a rabbit can be difficult, but the folks at RRR know just the kind of care Jeepers needs to thrive, and they’re determined to find someone capable of the job.
Until then, Smalley will continue snuggling with Jeepers and healing his past traumas one kiss at a time.
“And it turns out [that] he loves cuddles!” RRR wrote on Facebook.
To help bunnies like Jeepers get the care they need, you can donate to Romeo Rabbit Rescue on Venmo @RomeoRabbitRescue, PayPal @RomeoRabbitRescue, or Zelle at (586) 233-3129.
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She was desperate to get to him.
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