Phenomenal Animals: Surviving the Odds

The story of a pregnant black lab mix rescued from a Georgia kill shelter and her only surviving puppy out of a litter of seven illustrates the best of what humans and animals bring to each other.

"Mama and Migraine are remarkable because they are survivors,"  owner Mary Naples says. 

The day Mama and 70 other dogs and puppies were scheduled to be euthanized in a gas chamber, they were rescued and brought north to Mary's horse farm in Sandwich.  

Mama was young, very pregnant and extremely thin. To keep an eye on her, Mary isolated her from the other dogs. Mama returned the favor by keeping an eye on Mary, needing to know where she was and wanting to be near her. She was shy but obedient and learned her name almost immediately.

After the pups were born, Mama began to show her extraordinary gift of communication.

"If I went out in the yard," Naples says, "she would come outside and grab my hand or arm in her mouth and drag me back to her puppies and not let go until I sat there with her."

The litter was down to five at the time. One had been stillborn and another had only survived for 12 hours. After a week, some of the puppies were sick and had stopped nursing. A vet discovered they were infected with the herpes virus. 

The two Naples brought in were euthanized, and the next day, the remaining three were seen by her regular vet. Two were euthanized but the third had no symptoms. The vet wasn't optimistic about the last puppy, a female, but Mary took her home anyway.

A puppy has to be three weeks old to be able to develop a fever. It was July and Naples hoped that the hot weather would kill the virus inside the puppy's body.  

Unfortunately, the puppy contracted the pneumonia that many of the other dogs had. Still, she was nursing. By 18 days, Naples was hopeful. At three weeks, it seemed clear that the pup would survive.

Naples decided to keep Mama and her daughter Migraine "because the pair of them are miracles of survival." 

Mama's name stuck and Migraine got hers because she was Naples' ninth dog. The pair are going on eight and seven years old, respectively.

"Mama also helped decide her own future when she took my hand in her mouth and led me to her puppies,"  Naples says. "How could any resolve not melt, along with my heart?"