Rescued puppy honoured for having courage to live
A tiny terrier that spent a week forgotten in a dark, unheated storage room has earned the B.C. SPCA’s Animal Courage Award.
Jimmy Bean, a five-month-old puppy, was surrendered to the B.C. SPCA’s Port Alberni Branch in December 2016 after his guardian left the dog with a grandparent, who placed him in a storage chamber under his house, then promptly forgot about him.
According to the B.C. SPCA, Jimmy Bean arrived clinging to life, weighing just one kilogram and suffering from dehydration, hair loss and two dislocated shoulders.
“He was a day or so away from death when he came in and required immediate intensive care,” said veterinarian Dr. Holly Tillotson.
“He was soaked in urine, had no muscle mass at all and couldn’t walk because of his dislocated front shoulders. He was so weak he could barely move, but he would push himself around by his back legs, using his chin for balance.”
Knowing Jimmy Bean would need a lot of care, Tillotson bundled up the dog and took him home. He never left.
“I sent a photo of Jimmy Bean tucked up in a blanket to my wife, Katherine, and she immediately fell in love, texting back, ‘I don’t know what his story is, but he’s not leaving us,’ ” Tillotson said. The couple adopted the dog. Tillotson said she put Jimmy Bean’s shoulders back into place, but because of the muscle loss, they would pop back out whenever the terrier tried to walk.
Jimmy Bean never gave up, though. The little puppy fought for survival, regaining his strength quickly as Tillotson fed him every few hours to slowly reintroduce nutrition into his system.
Now the dog is fully recovered, and an award winner.
For his inspirational story and his courage in the face of adversity, the terrier was one of two dogs honoured at the B.C. SPCA’s annual awards ceremony on May 5 in Richmond, alongside Emily, a Bernese mountain dog seized from a puppy mill in Langley last February that now works as a therapy dog with St. John Ambulance.
The B.C. SPCA said they will be recommending animal cruelty charges in Jimmy Bean’s case.
Meanwhile, Jimmy Bean isn’t the only B.C. terrier being lauded for what he did last December.
Leo, a Biewer Yorkshire terrier, was recently inducted into the 2017 Purina Hall of Fame after saving his owner from a fire in her Vancouver apartment.
In December 2016, only 10 days after being adopted by 26-year-old Vancouverite Brittany Cosgrove, Leo woke his new owner at 2 a.m., barking aggressively. This seemed out of character for the young pup, so Cosgrove got out of bed to investigate.
As she attempted to enter her bathroom, she noticed flames dripping from the walls and ceiling.
Her building, a three-storey structure on Barclay Street, was on fire, and Leo had reacted quicker than the smoke detectors. Cosgrove called the fire department. A total of 30 residents were safely evacuated thanks to his heroism.
Cosgrove recently moved to Ottawa to live with her mother, having lost everything in the fire — or almost everything. Her heroic terrier made the trip, as well.