Owners of a farm dog in Ghana feared that their beloved pet had gotten lost or injured when he didn't return home at the end of the day, so they organized a search party to look for him. They wound up looking for the pooch for a better part of the night -- and got the shock of their lives when they finally located him, because he wasn't alone. Lying next to him was an abandoned newborn baby who'd been "disposed of" sometime shortly after his birth. (How could any parent do such a thing?)
The poor infant still had his umbilical cord attached, which had gotten infected while he was left in the woods to die. And he very likely would've had a tragic ending to his story if this amazing dog hadn't cuddled up next to him all night to keep him warm.
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And it turns out the newborn is the whole reason the dog didn't come home in the first place -- because he was found with the baby under a bridge very close to his house. He wasn't lost at all. He could've easily left the baby and gone home, but he must've somehow instinctively known that he couldn't leave the little guy outside all night alone, so he chose to remain with him until help arrived.
Police are investigating why the baby was abandoned, but suspect that he was born to teenage parents who couldn't care for him. (Doesn't that break your heart?)
This story is amazing no matter how you look at it, but the fact that the dog is a male makes it even more astonishing. Usually females are the ones with the maternal instincts, but this heroic pooch definitely makes us wonder if all dogs have an innate sense of when a little one needs to be cared for.
Hopefully the owners of the dog fed him some extra scraps from the table and gave him a few well deserved belly rubs when he finally got home. And wouldn't it be something if whoever winds up adopting the baby comes back to introduce him to the dog who saved his life someday?
Are your dogs protective of your kids?
Image via Trostle/Flickr
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Comments 86
awesome!
wow ! awesome story :) i'm not much of an animal person... but that just proves that dogs are so smart & loyal ! we "inherited" my s/o's dads dog when he could no longer take care of him, recently & he is an awesome dog ! he's an 8 year old pug & definetly took a protective stance of my 4 year old DD. whenever she even wimpers, he is right there to make sure she is okay ! i wouldn't know what to do if lukey wasn't around, we fell in the love with him, he's a great dog !
I am not a dog person, at all. But reading this give me a new-found regard for dogs. AWESOME pooch! May God Bless that little one!
The parents deserve to be tortured to death.
This is a beautiful story. When each of my children was born and came home from the hospital I laid them down on the floor on a blanket and took off all their clothes. I allowed my dogs to sniff them from top to bottom. From that day forward the dogs slept under the bassinet, or crib or next to the kids beds or in bed with the kids as they grew. No one could harm my children because the dog wouldn't allow it. I can remember when my daughter would ride her tricycle out to the sidewalk and then start to go down the sidewalk to the neighbors. Then I would hear her scream. "put me down Baron, put me down" the dog would take hold of the back of her shirt and drag her back in the yard. He would not let her leave the yard. He was the best babysitter. Our siamese cat had a litter and every time she went out side to wander around and stalk birds, Baron would go get her kittens and put them under our bed and lick them and take care of them. She would be spitting mad when she came in and couldn't find them in their bed. She knew where they were and would come and get them one by one and growl at the dog the whole time. And this was a male German Shepherd. Big dog but he handled the babies with the greatest of care.
I love stories like this! An animal protecting a baby....does it get any better?