A call about an abandoned puppy took us half a day into the countryside, to the blocked end of a dark sewer. She screamed at first, then came close enough for us to touch her.
Her name is a nod to the singer Shania Twain, and to the sewer drain where we found her.
Watch the video12:49Abandoned Puppy was Desperately Pleading for Help Until This Happened · March 9, 2022 · Open on YouTube ↗
An emergency call told us a puppy had been abandoned near a forest in the countryside, and that call was all we had to go on. It took us half a day to reach the place. Once there, we did not know where to look, so we searched the area and listened for any sound of a dog. We knew a call like this could turn out to be false, with no dog at all, but we did not want to give up.
Then, faintly, we began to hear something. It came from a spot where a river had once run and a sewer now ran in its place. We followed the sound to a concrete channel that led into the dark mouth of a pipe, and looked in. We had found her, deep inside the sewer.
It was long and narrow, and she was at its far end, where it was blocked. We tried to coax her out, but in the end we had to do it the hard way and go in after her. At first she screamed, and then she stood still, looking at us. When we managed to move a little farther in, she came closer too, and at last we could touch her.
Getting out of such a small space took time, and we moved as carefully as we could. She was so frightened that she did not move an inch, so we had to pull her along gently until, finally, she was out. After a two-minute breather, we took her to the car. How she had ended up there alone we did not know: she might have been a family dog's unwanted puppy, left there by people, or a stray who had lost her mother.
She still barely moved, because we were complete strangers to her. In the car we offered her water first, but she would not take a single sip, so we gave her food instead, and that was when we realized how young she was. She could not see well yet and relied on smell alone. She was starving, so hungry that we gave her a second bowl.
From there we went straight to the vet, where she was weighed and her eyes and ears were checked. Both checks went well. It was a long way back home after that. She had barely moved when we first put her in the car, but by now she was good company, and when we finally arrived, we gave her some time to look around before her shower.
In the shower she was curious about the water, and a little afraid of it. She was so dirty that it took several washes, and there were fleas and lice to treat as well. Part of her body was coated in industrial oil that would not wash out, so we worked it from her fur by hand for about 30 minutes. It was not easy, but she stayed very calm, and before we had finished, she had fallen asleep.
When the last of the oil was gone, it was time for dinner, and she ate from a white bowl on a rug. Then she curled up in a plaid blanket, far from the dark sewer where we had found her. When we filmed her story, we were looking for a family for Shania Drain, a home where she would be welcomed, loved and cherished.
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