Today, The Great Animal Rescue Chase is proud to share a story from an everyday hero in Washington who came across what she thought was a puppy in the road. When it turned out to be a coyote, she began a determined crusade to get professional help. She was turned away by police who advised her to let it die. Fear not, there is a happy ending to this story, but it reminds us of how far we have yet to go in making compassion toward wildlife a bedrock component of our culture. By Karen Langlois
While traveling from Port Angeles, Wa. on Hwy 101, I noticed traffic driving erratically and slowing in the opposite lanes. All of a sudden, I realized a small puppy, probably thrown from a car, was struggling right in the lane of traffic!!
I quickly made a U-turn, pulled the car over and turned on the flashers. I put my hand up and walked into the traffic, the man in a white pick-up looking at me curiously. As I put one hand under its hips, the under under its head to support it, I realized it was a baby coyote! I carried it to the grassy meridian and laid it on the grass, talking to it quietly, stroking its soft left ear: the only part of it not full of burrs and bugs.
Hypnotic Smokey Blue Eyes
It watched me with the most hypnotic smokey, blue eyes I had ever seen. I called 911 to have someone come to take it to a rehab center, but the only response, other than transferring me three times, was to tell me it was a wild animal and I should not be touching it. I finally asked if they would have left it in the road to be killed, or would they have rescued it? I was informed nobody would come. A young man had witnessed what had happened and came over, asking about i. When I informed him that it was a coyote, he too was a little concerned. About 15 minutes later, he suggested we give it a bit of water, which I had in my car. As I quit petting it and got up, the baby jumped up and ran across two lanes of traffic to get down the hill to the valley where he lived.
We both ran across the road, ready to rescue it again if needed. Happily, the stunned little fellow had recovered. I had never felt such exhilaration, realizing I had rescued one of God’s special critters in need, one rarely seen at this stage. I just wish I’d had a photo of it looking up at me, its eyes seeming to thank and trust me. (The photo above is from a separate coyote rescue).
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