In the town of Swindon in the United Kingdom, it was a family of squirrels that helped find Ruby; a family’s Labrador retriever who had hidden in thick bushes after she had been seriously hit by a van.
According to the BBC, it had been about a dozen noisy squirrels that had attracted a builder’s attention, who had been working on a property in Haydon Wick, which led him to the injured dog who was lying in a thick hedge exhausted and in pain.
The squirrels caused such a ruckus that a builder was alerted to see what all the fuss was about. He realized it wasn’t a fox in the hedge, it was actually Ruby.
Ruby, who belongs to Sebastian and Tina Ward-Smith, disappeared during a walk in Mouldon Park; nearby residents and police community support officers joined in her search. Drones were also dispatched, but there was no sign of her at all.
The family had just about given up, thinking they would never see Ruby again, but then came the best phone call of the day. It had been the builder who found her under the hedge, who told the family, squirrels in the area had been quite vocal about their unexpected guest. The builder had seen one of the posters and notified the family.
She was so badly injured she could barely move. The vet thinks she was lying there as her final resting place.
Ruby was rushed to emergency surgery. She had suffered deep wounds to her back legs and for the two days she had been lying in the bushes had developed a bone infection. She has an uphill battle until she recuperates, but her prognosis is promising.
A fundraiser has been launched to cover Ruby’s vet bills, with any extra money to go to DroneSAR for Lost Dogs UK and Southern Counties Lost Dog Tracking, which helped the searches.
Ruby’s owners thanked the “amazing” community in Swindon who helped look for Ruby.
I have to thank the squirrels and the builder.
Who would have thought?
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