When Jonathan found a black puppy abandoned in the forest, he knew exactly what to do. He needed to act before thinking. The young man picked up the puppy and took him to the vet to help in any way.
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You might expect that this should be the happy end to a feel-good story but in fact, it was just the start. Taking the puppy to the vet ended up Jonathan spending hours with the police, a stolen car and much more drama than he could ever have anticipated.
An Animal Lover
There wasn’t a time in Jonathan’s life when he didn’t care for animals. He had a family home which was filled with pets and as he grew older, the need to care for them only intensified.
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But with impossible working hours, Jonathan had never managed to get a furry friend of his own. While this was devastating to him, he tried to balance this emptiness by always being the first one to cuddle every dog he saw on the street and always being on the lookout to help lost animals.
Strange Sound
Living in a big city, Jonathan had seen it all. And had helped reunite many lost pets with their owners, so when one day on his daily walk on the outskirts of town he heard an unfamiliar yet jarring sound he was instantly alert.
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It sounds like a small animal crying for help over and over and Jonathan knew he had to do something. He slowed down his pace and carefully followed the direction of the sound but the source wasn’t what he was expecting.
An Animal In Need
Almost hidden in a small nest of branches was a black puppy, all alone. The tiny little creature was wiggling all over the place desperately looking for its siblings or mother and Jonathan’s heart broke.
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He knew that disturbing this nest might just do more harm than good, so started by looking around everywhere to figure out how this poor puppy which looked to be only days old had found its way into the middle of the forest.
Alone
He was looking for paw prints or even human ones but found nothing. It was like this little puppy had been dropped out of the sky here. And that is when Jonathan started noticing the neat nest the dog was placed inside.
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The moss-covered nest looked pristine to the point that Jonathan was feeling more and more like someone had intentionally placed this puppy here and had left them to fend for themselves. But he couldn’t let that happen.
Makeshift Home
The young man was pretty far away from his car and with dark clouds rolling, he knew that it was going to be a delicate and almost dangerous process to get this puppy to safety. The lost dog still had its eyes closed.
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But his need to care for this puppy overtook his fear and Jonathan decided to make a crude shelter out of his backpack to keep this small puppy safe while he started the long walk back to his car.
The First Hit
After only a couple of steps, Jonathan would stop and check up on the little guy. It had stopped crying which made the young man nervous and happy at the same time. All this meant that it took him twice as long to get back than usual.
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And when he did finally make it to the parking lot, he saw that his car had all but disappeared. Left behind were some shattered glass and skid marks! Jonathan was dumbfounded!
Getting Help
While isolated, the area was considered to be safe. Jonathan felt overwhelmed. He didn’t know which problem to worry about first. Should he call the police about his car or worry about the innocent puppy hiding inside his backpack?
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After pacing back and forth and finally coming to terms with what was happening, Jonathan made a decision. He was going to forget about his car and focus on the lost puppy he had found.
The Next Step
Thankfully, this proved to be the best choice. The young man spotted a couple heading back from their walk. Jonathan ran up to them and explained his predicament, he was sure that they would laugh in his face and tell him to leave but instead they offered to call for help.
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And before Jonathan could even believe it, he talked to reassuring police officers who tracked down all his information. The officers assured him that his car would be returned and even helped him get back home.
Police
After the day Jonathan was having, everyone would have understood if he chose to get dropped off at his house and deal with the lost puppy in the morning but Jonathan wasn’t like everyone.
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He was tired and exhausted but asked the officers if they could drop him off at a veterinarian clinic. This, of course, piqued the interest of the officers. It was getting late they reminded Jonathan but when the young man recounted the lost puppy’s story – they too became invested.
Grateful
The officers wanted to help as much as they could and with their help, Jonathan managed to get dropped off at a tried and tested vet he had taken many stray animals. The officers came inside and made sure that Jonathan or his latest friend didn’t need any more assistance.
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This simple gesture meant the world to Jonathan who had mostly been treated with disdain or annoyance at his need to help animals. There were still good people left and Jonathan couldn’t have been more grateful to have met two of them.
The Small Bundle
After all the pleasantries, the officers left Jonathan sitting alone with a squirming black bundle in his arm. While initially, the puppy had been very loud, in Jonathan’s arms it seemed to have settled down.
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The young man hoped and prayed that all his effort wouldn’t end in vain and that the puppy would be saved. Both Jonathan and the puppy had had a long day and it was about time for them to receive some good news.
Focused
If only Jonathan knew that the news he was so desperate to hear would end up changing a huge part of his life. He had no idea that as he waited with a small puppy in his arms, the vet was minutes away from transforming his view on his love of animals.
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But we digress. Right now, Jonathan was oblivious of all of this. His mind was focused on only one thing, making sure that the puppy in his arms made it through the night. And as he waited he gently caressed the puppy’s face, calming himself and it.
Exhusted
Finally, after what felt like ages the Vet called out his name. Jonathan’s eyes were dropping from exhaustion but he tried to maintain his composure. He recounted his entire story about how he found this puppy alone in the forest.
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Jonathan even told the vet about the strange nest it was in and how it was all alone. But even before he could finish, out of nowhere the vet started acting really strange. She stepped away from the puppy and asked Jonathan to leave immediately.
What Breed Was It?
The young man was left confused, what was wrong with the puppy? He had come to this veterinarian many times and brought in strays from all across town but she had never reacted like this.
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Was the puppy a dangerous dog breed which he didn’t know about? As Jonathan sat outside waiting for answers he tried to recount the young puppy’s features and notice if he could somehow identify its breed from memory.
Worried
Jonathan flipped through every dog breed he could remember, even thinking about crossbreeds and mutts but realising that the puppy he had found didn’t match any of them. This puppy was very different from any other dog he had needed.
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But in his haste to rescue it, Jonathan hadn’t given himself the time to process this information fully. Now, alone in the waiting room he was getting worried. Had he somehow found an illegal breed?
Vet’s Reaction
And if he had, what was going to happen to the little guy. Jonathan was already feeling very attached to the young baby and just as he was on the brink of panic, the vet’s examination door opened and she came out huffing and puffing.
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Without waiting a second though, Jonathan launched a series of questions at her. He needed to know what was going to happen to the young puppy and he needed to know now. And that is when he heard the words, he never could have expected.
Real Identity
After doing a thorough examination of the “puppy”, the vet had determined that it wasn’t even a dog! The ” puppy” Jonathan had found was a baby raccoon and it was very sick!
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Jonathan’s head was about to explode! He couldn’t fully digest all this information! He had spent hours and hours and even had his car stolen all to save a baby raccoon? And that wasn’t even the end.
Police Called
Just as he was trying to figure out how to digest all this information, his phone started ringing. He ignored it but he kept getting call after call! Exasperated, he finally picked it up. It was the police!
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They had found his car! It was unharmed and Jonathan could pick it up in the morning while hearing this news would have made most people ecstatic, all Jonathan could focus on was the “puppy”.
Changed Outlook
Sadly, the vet told him that it had a very contagious virus and Jonathan would have to remove all his clothes and personal belongings. Any dog or cat who had recently come in contact with Jonathan was at significant risk of contracting this deadly virus as well.
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The worst part of all of this was that the poor baby raccoon died after a few hours. Jonathan was devasted and felt partly responsible for all of this. The entire experience taught him to think before he acted and always double-check that he isn’t doing more harm than good by “helping”.
This story is a work of fiction created for entertainment. Characters and events are the products of the author’s imagination. The images shown are used for illustration only.