When Christina Eyth stepped outside her Pennsylvania home on a frigid, snowy day, she noticed something strange.
Fresh paw prints, likely from a dog, were leading straight to her door.
Strange Discovery
Curious and concerned, Christina followed the tracks to see where they would lead.
“I saw that there were dog prints that went up to my door like he was looking in for help,” said Christina.
The trail led her straight to her basement door, and what she saw there broke her heart.
That’s when I saw this poor animal. He looked so cold and was shivering.
But as Christina looked closer, she wasn’t quite sure what kind of animal it even was.
Uncertain Identity
Despite her confusion about its appearance, Christina’s main concern was to get the animal somewhere warm.
She acted quickly and managed to bring it into her basement, where she gave it food and water.
The animal’s skin condition, possibly caused by mange, made it difficult to determine its species.
I wasn’t completely sure, but he never showed signs of aggression. I just saw an animal in need of help and wanted to help him.
Efforts To Identify It
Hoping for answers, Christina shared the animal’s photo on a local message board.
Soon after, she was contacted by a volunteer from Tj’s Rescue Hideaway in Pennsylvania.
Even the rescue group wasn’t totally sure what kind of animal it was, but they agreed it needed care.
Maria [the group’s organizer] and her team came out and were able to catch him without hurting him at all. [They] transported him to Wildlife Works-Mount Pleasant to get treatment and testing done to confirm what he is.
Although the DNA results would take weeks, the team knew they had to help the creature right away.
It was severely malnourished and suffering from a serious case of mange.
Afraid and wary of the shelter staff, the animal needed gentle care during treatment.
Then, something completely unexpected took place.
Only a few days after arriving at the facility, the unknown animal escaped and ran off.
No one was able to find it again.
Eventually, though, the test results did come back.
The DNA test revealed that the scared animal was a coyote. It had returned to the wild, where it naturally belongs.
The news didn’t bother Christina in the slightest, as she knows she did the right thing.
No matter the results of the test, I wouldn’t have changed anything I did to help him.