Two dogs had been left out on the side of the road with the rubbish after their owners were evicted from their house.
The dogs’ owners, who had been living at the residence in Barstow, California, collected up the items they didn’t want to take with them and left them on the pavement, ready for collection by waste management.
The items included old blankets, unwanted clothes, and two adorable, helpless pups, who had been put together in a wire cage before being left behind.
Allen Boartfield, a volunteer with Dream Fetchers: Project Rescue, was alerted to the abandoned dogs last Friday morning (November 9).
The volunteer told The Dodo:
I was contacted about them at 8 a.m. I was given an intersection and told I couldn’t miss them.
Thankfully Allen found the dogs before they faced any further distress – like actually being caught up by the rubbish van or ending up in some sort of Cruella de Vil type situation.
The heroic man rescued the poor dogs, which were later given the names Treasure and Catch, though it was clear their morning left abandoned in the cage had affected them.
Catch played the part of protective big brother to Treasure and gave Allen a few warning nips on the hand when he approached, but that didn’t deter the volunteer from his rescue mission.
Allen continued:
They were both extremely scared. Treasure got used to me fairly quickly, but Catch never did.
Catch is very attached to Treasure. So attached that, when I moved Treasure into another kennel, even though Catch was very scared still, he ran across my lap to be in the same kennel as Treasure.
The frightened dogs were taken to Camino Pet Hospital in Irvine, California, where staff could assess their health and determine how they had been neglected.
Speaking to The Dodo, Hedy Herold, rescue coordinator for the hospital, said:
Catch and Treasure came to us with visibly shaken spirits and broken hearts.
Treasure was so matted that she couldn’t move without pain and she was snapping at our technicians who wanted to help her.
The two dogs tried to stick together, huddling together when they could, but Catch had a cold which required him to be put into isolation for a few days.
After a some time in the hospital, Treasure was bathed and spayed and has since developed her outgoing nature.
Hedy described:
She stands in her cage, which we like to call her ‘bedroom,’ and wiggles and whines until I open the door. She even leapt into my arms and covered my face in kisses that made cute little sounds. I pet her a lot with my hands before going to see Catch.
Catch is taking a little bit longer to come out of his shell after his traumatic experience with the previous owners and is still too shy to greet the staff, but the helpful humans are holding out hope for him.
Hedy added:
Some hearts mend more quickly than others. Nobody is giving up on him!
Let’s hope Catch gets his confidence up and the pair of dogs find a loving home!
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to stories@unilad.co.uk.
Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.