Recently, we brought you the story of the Harris County Animal Shelter in Houston Texas. It was there, over Memorial Day weekend, that people flooded the rescue with 200 abandoned animals in three days. One memorable dog was left with a note begging rescuers not to put the animal down. Another dog, the one you are to meet, had a much different surprise in store for rescuers at the shelter.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 30 – 5:30 AM
On Wednesday, May 30th at 5:30 in the morning, Dr. Michael White, director of the Harris County Animals Shelter, woke up in Houston and flipped on the news. To his great surprise, right there on the television was the front gate of his place of employment.
You see, the shelter made the news because of the massive influx of animals over the weekend.
On that particular morning, there was one exceptional dog that joined the reporter on the broadcast. As soon as Dr. White saw the KHOU11 news team standing there beside the gates to the shelter, he saw her. Chained directly to the fence at the shelter was a large and beautiful white dog.
Image via Twitter
On the screen, Dr. White could see the sweet girl smile and start to wag her tail as the news team approached her through the dark.
SWEET BABY GIRL
“I was watching the local and I saw Janelle [Bludau], the reporter, outside our facility at the gate out by the road,” Dr. White explained to The Dodo. “She was talking about this dog she found, who had been chained to our front gate when she came to the shelter that morning.”
On the news, Bludau said that she would stay with the dog until someone arrived to let them in the gate. Upon hearing that news, Dr. White quickly got dressed and jumped into his car for the 45-minute trip to the shelter.
Image via Twitter
They named the sweet girl Janelle, after the reporter that found her. Concerning her health, other than a flea infestation and testing positive for heartworms, the smiling lab was in excellent shape. Then, however, it was time for her x-ray.
OH BOY – OR GIRL!
As soon as workers gave Janelle her x-ray, they realized her big belly was more than just weight gained over the winter. No, they did a count and realized the very round girl was very pregnant with a whopping ten puppies in her belly.
Her belly quickly grew so that it was nearly brushing the floor.
Image via Harris County Animal Shelter
The clinic workers knew that it would only be a week or two before Janelle would give birth. Luckily, Dr. White was right on hand. It turns out that he takes in fosters that need him the very most. He knew right away he was the perfect person to help Janelle through the next phase of her life.
“I decided I wasn’t going to leave her there any longer, and I took her home,” said Dr. White. “I didn’t want her to stay up there in that condition. I hate for animals to give birth in a shelter situation.”
Despite having two dogs of his own, Dr. White took Janelle into his home as a foster.
IT’S TIME!
It was a good thing too. Just a few days after arriving in the White’s home, Janelle started acting strangely. While he had hoped she would go into labor during the day, Dr. White knew that it was about to be a very long night.
The contractions started at around 9 pm that night.
The couple only got a total of about an hour’s worth of sleep that night. They stayed up with Janelle through every painful delivery. In the morning, there was a grand total of 11 puppies and one very exhausted mama.
Janelle, the lab mix found tied 2the gate of the Harris Co Animal Shelter by r own @JanelleKHOU & @MikeBadaBing, had 11 healthy puppies this AM! Shelter Director, Dr. Michael White, is fostering the whole fam-another reminder of how crucial fosters are! Mom & pups doin great ❤️ pic.twitter.com/A4tcunGamN
— Lisa Hernandez (@LisaKHOU) June 13, 2018
GREAT MOM – AMAZING DOGGO
Image via Harris County Animal Shelter
When Janelle first arrived in his home, Dr. White couldn’t believe how sweet she was. It turned out that she was as good a mom as she is a dog. She tends to her babies, always making sure that the littlest ones get enough food. She also keeps their pen immaculately clean as well as the puppies.
Image via Twitter
The doctor reports that Janelle and her babies are doing well. As soon as the babies have finished with mama’s milk, they will all be up for adoption – including Janelle.
Image via Harris County Animal Shelter
Thanks to Dr. White, this sweet girl, and her babies will be just fine. For more information on adopting Janelle or her babies contact the Harris County Animal Shelter by clicking on this link.
Thank you, Dr. White, for saving this sweet girl and her adorable puppies.
Share this story far and wide to celebrate the everyday heroes that don’t get nearly enough praise for what they do.
Feature Images via Twitter
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