Founder of Sky Sanctuary Rescue Elli Smith, was with Arizona Humane Society rescuing a dog, when she met another pup who was in desperate need of her help. In an interview, the woman had this to say: “I looked in the parking lot and saw this lady running in with an animal in her hands who was completely limp and not moving. I was like, ‘Oh no, I know how the Humane Society is, and I know that this animal is going to be euthanized.’”
After seeing the pup, Smith rushed into the society lobby, where she heard a woman asking for help with the pup. However, just in case, the founder of the rescue introduced herself and gave her card to the lady in question. In her interview, Smith went on to say: “I got in the car, and I was thinking, ‘Please call me. Please call me,’ because I knew that that puppy was not gonna make it. Sure enough, within 10 minutes, she called me and said they wanted to euthanize the puppy, and I said, ‘Nope. Bring it to my vet right now.’”
The 3 week old pup was named Penelope, and she was covered in quite a number of ticks and was in need of an immediate blood transfusion. To the luck of Penelope, the vet had the perfect candidate for the job. The candidate was the vet’s own pet dog Murphy, who was rushed to the hospital by the vet’s wife, and the elder dog immediately took a liking to the pup. Smith also had this to say: “He was very, very curious like, ‘What is this little thing?’”
A few syringes full of Murphy’s blood did the trick and brought Penelope back to life. On Instagram, Smith had this to add with a photo: “You could literally see the color rush back to her gums and the life into her eyes. This was such a special moment. I have to imagine Penelope is quite thankful for Murphy … her hero.” When the pup was nearly fully recovered, the practice manager at Pet Urgent Care, Rachel Hendricks, took it upon herself to take the pup home to bottle feed Penelope throughout the day. While Rachel was taking care of the pup, Elli was working to find the pup’s mother.
Smith found Petunia, Penelope’s mother, living outside in a fenced-in pen with 25 other dogs. Smith was quick to convince the property owner in letting her take petunia and the other sick and ailing dogs, as they had been living in a dirt hole their entire lives, being exposed to the sun, wind and weather. Petunia was first given a good bath and was treated for ticks, and later on, mother and daughter were reunited, and you could see the happiness in seeing each other again.
After being separated from her baby for so long, Petunia immediately starts licking her baby girl and allows to nurse. Finally, as both dogs’ personality changed drastically after being reunited, Smith had this to say: “[Petunia is] super outgoing and loves to roll on her back and get belly rubs. Penelope, of course, just loves being comforted and especially having her mom back.”
Until Penelope is about 9-10 weeks old, she and her mom Petunia will be staying with their loving foster family, and after that, both pups would be given up for adoption to their forever home. The founder of Sky Sanctuary Rescue hopes that the dogs would find a loving home that would give them all the love, attention and care that they deserve, and plenty of belly rubs.
