They say it takes a village to raise a dog, but in Annie McHound’s case, it took a village to save one.
Annie McHound was just under 3 years old when a family found her tucked away in the corner of their backyard one hot summer’s day. They didn’t know how long she’d been out there, but they could tell by how skinny she was that time was of the essence.
So they put the pup in a large Tupperware container and immediately reached out to Stray Rescue of St. Louis for help.
“She was in really bad shape when I got there,” Donna Lochmann, chief life saving officer at Stray Rescue of St. Louis, told The Dodo. “I really don’t think she would’ve lasted much longer.”
Luckily, the family called for help just in time. According to Lochmann, Annie McHound was emaciated and covered in more fleas than the experienced rescuer had seen in a long time.
Lochmann carefully loaded the puppy into her car and called the vet team at the shelter to give them a heads-up about Annie’s condition. That’s when Annie’s devoted village of lifesaving helpers started to form.
The team’s first plan of attack was to clean Annie thoroughly when she got there.
After her bath, the team quickly realized that Annie couldn’t stand up on her own. So they wrapped her up in a soft blanket and made her as comfortable as possible in one of the kennels.
They tried giving her fluids, but when she still wasn’t getting stronger, the team decided to send her to an emergency center to get a blood transfusion.
Annie’s village had already fallen in love with her within those first few hours of meeting her and couldn’t wait for her to come back. They were eager to continue nursing their new buddy back to health.
The poor puppy, whose lungs had been seriously harmed by anemia, had to spend the most of her time in an oxygen chamber when Annie got back.
But she had a supportive tribe of shelter employees by her side the entire time. The crew would take her outdoors and sit with her in the sun when she wasn’t in her oxygen chamber.
According to Lochmann, “We wanted her to experience some fresh air.” And she genuinely enjoyed her time with us outside.
Slowly, Annie started to get stronger and stronger. When her lungs were finally healthy enough to breathe without the help of an oxygen chamber, she was moved out of the clinic and into an area of the shelter where she could be with other animals.
“That’s when she finally started acting like a dog,” Lochmann said. “She started making friends with other dogs and absolutely loved playing with them.”
You can watch Annie run around with her friends here:
Soon after being transferred out of the facility, Annie entered foster care. And while she hasn’t yet been adopted, Lochmann is delighted to report that she’s doing well.
Even though Annie’s journey to rescue isn’t quite complete, everyone at Stray Rescue of St. Louis is proud of how far she’s come despite all the challenges.
“We’re really grateful that that family saw her [in their yard], because she turned out to be a really great dog,” Lochmann said. We really adore her!
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