Someone was driving along an empty road in County Roscommon, Ireland, when they spotted something shocking. A dog chained by the neck to a fence, cradling her five newborn puppies.

When this mother dog and her babies were chained to the side of the road, the mother was scared and confused.

Her owner had always been cruel, but the dog couldn’t believe that he was doing this to her.

Still, the dog hoped that her owner would come back for her and the puppies. But as the hours passed by, the dog realized that this wouldn’t happen.

It was a cold day outside, and the mother tried to cradle her babies closer. But she couldn’t fit them all under her chest and realized that soon, the worst would start happening to some of then.

Just before it was too late, an anonymous passerby saw the dog as he was driving. He pulled his car over, pet the dog and called the Irish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, ISPCA.

He sent over some pictures, explaining how the dog was padlocked to the fence. The ISPCA member on the phone said that someone would be there soon.

The rescuers showed up and freed the dog from the fence. They took the mother and the puppies to the shelter. Luckily, all of the puppies were still alive. Some of them were ill, but it looked likely that they would all recover.

The mother dog ate as if she hadn’t been fed in days. Then the puppies all nursed from the mother. After getting some nutrition, all of the dogs started to perk up.

The manager of the ISPCA shelter, Hugh O’Toole, said the following after taking the dogs in:

“With the recent level of rainfall and cold weather this week, the outcome could have been very different, and I’m happy we were alerted so we could help them.”

As the days passed, it became clear that the puppies and their mother were all getting stronger.

So the shelter named the mother Emmy Lou and the babies Billy Rae, Dixie, Dolly, Dotty, June and Patsy.

Soon, Emmy Lou was a healthy weight. And the puppies were fast-growing into energetic young dogs!

Eventually, the shelter was able to find homes for all of the puppies and the mother.

Emmy Lou and her babies had a happy resolution thanks to the passerby and the ISPCA. But sadly, this is not always the case.

A shockingly high number of dogs get chained and abandoned all over the world. In fact, just a couple of days after Emmy Lou came into the shelter, the ISPCA found another chained dog left in torrential rain with a leg injury.

This time round, the ISPCA rushed to the dog, freed him and took him to the vet. But the vet stated that the dog’s injury, due to exposure to the elements, was too severe. The dog had to be put down. And this incident is sadly common for animal protection societies everywhere. An ISPCA spokesperson later said that “This is the reality of what ISPCA encounters on a regular basis.”

The sad truth is that there are far too many suffering dogs out there.

We all have a duty to keep an eye out for them. Getting to a dog as soon as possible could mean the difference between recovery and death.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Source: Shared, The Irish Times, The Irish Post