Seeing a starving stray is heartbreaking. It is even worse when people simply pass by and do nothing. Most strays barely manage to survive, scraping by with the little food they can find.
In this story, a dog was stranded in the middle of a Colorado highway with almost no one to help.
Alone And Struggling To Survive
When the Soul Dog Rescue team spotted a lone dog along the highway in Colorado, they knew the rescue would be difficult.
She was nervous and distrustful, so the team had to come up with a good plan.
In a post on facebook, they said: She did not want anything to do with us, nor did we have a trap, which would have made life easier, but she needed help and we weren’t leaving without her.
The dog, later named Joss, was extremely sick with a heavy tapeworm infection. While searching for a way to reach her, the team noticed a corn vendor nearby and asked him about her.
They were stunned to learn she had been living there for weeks. The vendor had given her corn whenever he could, which was likely the only reason she survived.
In the rescue video, Joss can be seen moments before she was finally rescued.
Though she hesitated and resisted help, her hunger eventually won and she allowed herself to be saved.
Riggs Wirth said to The Dodo: She did not want to come with us and did not seem happy to be caught.
From Fear To Trust
At first, Joss showed little joy about being rescued. But over time, as food, safety, and comfort became consistent, her entire outlook began to change.
Wirth explained: “She was always, always, always hungry. The first week, I had to limit her food because she would just eat until she would explode.”
Until she was ready for adoption, Wirth cared for her in her own home. It was clear Joss had never lived indoors before, and adjusting took some time.
She added: “By the end of the two weeks, she wanted to be everywhere with us, just following us around the house.”
“Whenever I turned around, she was sitting right there, watching me, just happy to stay close and be near her people.”
Only a few weeks later, she was adopted and moved into her forever home in Colorado.
Her new family renamed her Coco, and it quickly became clear they were destined for one another. Watching her story unfold was truly heartwarming.