ANIMALS

Man Finds Emaciated Puppy Tied to Bus Stop on His Way to Work

A few weeks ago, a man in St. Louis, Missouri, was heading home from work when he spotted a small black-and-white dog peacefully sleeping at his bus stop. As he approached, he noticed the pup was tied to the bench, and she couldn’t even stand up.

Given the scorching summer heat, the man acted swiftly to rescue the dog.

“He actually just picked her up and carried her home,” Donna Lochmann, Stray Rescue of St. Louis’s chief life-saving officer, told The Dodo. “Then he called us.”

Image source: Stray Rescue Of St. Louis

Shortly after, Lochmann and her team reached the man’s house. The caller had mentioned that the pup was extremely thin, but Lochmann was taken aback by the sight when she laid eyes on her.

“She was emaciated, not just skinny,” Lochmann said. “She was outside on a little blanket, lying in the shade, but she couldn’t even stand. So, I picked her up and carried her to the Jeep.”

The pup, later named She-Ra, was too feeble to stand, but Lochmann noticed she could still wag her tail. Despite the pain she was enduring, She-Ra seemed delighted to be in Lochmann’s caring company.

After She-Ra arrived at Stray Rescue of St. Louis (SRSL), the veterinary team conducted a thorough checkup. While they couldn’t know her exact history, they could tell from her condition that she hadn’t experienced a loving environment while growing up.

“I think she was kept in a small crate,” Lochmann said. “As a puppy, she had a really rough start.”

Image source: Stray Rescue Of St. Louis

Thankfully, She-Ra was in excellent care at SRSL. After some well-deserved baths and a few additional checkups, the sweet girl was all set to begin her recovery journey.

The team quickly put She-Ra on a refeeding plan, giving her small portions of food multiple times a day to help her body readjust to proper nourishment.

Since she was still unable to move, they lovingly carried her indoors and took her outside in a stroller, ensuring she could enjoy the fresh air and change of scenery.

Image source: Stray Rescue Of St. Louis

As She-Ra continued to eat, she grew stronger, and before long, she began to stand on her own.

After two weeks, her body fully adapted to regular meals, and she moved on from the refeeding plan. Now, she was all set for foster care.

Before too much time had passed, a caring foster family stepped forward to welcome her into their home. With them, She-Ra’s world expanded and flourished even more.

“She was actually living in the foster home with a couple of other dogs, a cat, a monkey and a bird,” Lochmann said. “She got exposed to a whole lot and was doing really well. They had a huge fenced yard, and she just loved to run and play with the other dogs.”

Image source: Stray Rescue Of St. Louis

She-Ra had an amazing time with her new foster family, but deep down, she was still longing for a forever home. Then, one wonderful day, she received the ideal adoption application.

“This one family filled out an application, and they actually sent an email, too, just saying how much they had fallen in love with her,” Lochmann said. “They just really wanted to give her a home. They felt like they had a lot of love to give, so the foster family met with them and instantly fell in love. When they came to the foster house to meet her for the first time, She-Ra went to the door, and their faces just lit up.”

She-Ra was overjoyed to join her forever family, and ever since then, she’s been living her best life with them.

“It’s just turned out to be a great home for She-Ra,” Lochmann said. “She gets all kinds of attention, and they take her places. She has plenty of love in her life right now.”

Image source: Stray Rescue Of St. Louis

When Lochmann first saw She-Ra, she knew the pup had a tough road ahead. But now, She-Ra’s past is far behind her, and she has become a resilient and strong dog, living each day to the fullest.

She-Ra’s life is already wonderful, and it continues to improve.

“Her story has a happy ending,” Lochmann said. “It’s a super happy ending for a girl who had nothing to start with. She’s just a happy dog.”

ANIMALS

Amazing Video of Unseen Ocean Creatures in the Ningaloo Canyons

The Schmidt Ocean Institute recently explored the Ningaloo Canyons on the western coast of Australia using a robotic underwater vehicle called the ROV Sebastian. Check out the amazing video of what they discovered in the deep parts of the Indian Ocean.

More info: Youtube

ANIMALS

These Pics Are Art and the Artists Are Insects

Flying insects move so quickly that they are hard to follow, but new technology and some smart ideas have helped Spanish photographer Xavi Bou do just that. After spending 10 years focusing on birds in flight for his Ornithographies project, he turned his attention to insects.

For Entomographies, he uses high-speed video footage taken by Adrian Smith, an insect expert at North Carolina State University, to study and record how insects move. Bou then picks multiple frames and combines them into single images that show the fast movements of one or more insects through space and time.

With Smith’s help, Bou has captured the aerial tricks of wasps, the jumps of leafhoppers, and the fluttering of butterflies in amazing detail. He hopes that by doing this, he can make people more aware of the decline in important insect populations around the world.

1. Zebra longwing

This butterfly, which is common in many areas of the Americas, really fits its name. It can fly very high with just a few flaps of its large wings.