We don’t deserve dogs. Their undying loyalty, goofy smiles, and puppy-dog eyes all add up to make them man’s best friend, but unfortunately, man doesn’t always return the favor. Sometimes, animal cruelty sadly rears its ugly head.
A maintenance worker in Wichita, Kansas, recently stumbled across two puppies with their mouths bound painfully shut by rubber bands. Without skipping a beat, he rounded up a rescue team in the nick of time and helped give the story a happy ending.
Dogs are nothing if not loyal, but someone decided to betray that loyalty with a truly heartbreaking act of cruelty
Image credits: Wichita Animal Action League / Facebook
A maintenance worker investigating a burst pipe stumbled across two puppies trapped in filthy conditions and, after a closer look, found that their mouths had been bound shut
A maintenance worker looking into a burst pipe at a housing complex had a feeling something wasn’t quite right, and when he let himself into the apartment, he was overwhelmed by a terrible stench. Then he noticed a tiny plastic dog crate in one corner of the room. Inside it were two 7-month-old puppies, clearly in distress but not making so much as a squeak.
“There was feces and urine just spilling out the front of the kennel,” says Sarah Coffman, executive director of Wichita Animal Action League. “Then he noticed that the puppies couldn’t open their mouths, so he shined a flashlight in the crate and realized that they had something wrapped around their muzzles, and that their noses were really swollen and red.”
Image credits: Wichita Animal Action League / Facebook
The worker sprang into action, calling a friend who fosters dogs for the Wichita Animal Action League, and a rescue team was urgently assembled
Not sure what to do next, but bent on helping the two terrified doggos, the maintenance worker called a friend who fosters dogs for the Wichita Animal Action League. “She called us and was like, ‘I don’t know what to tell him to do,’” Coffman said. “I was like, ‘Tell him to wait right there. I’m on my way and I’m bringing the cavalry.’”
With the assistance of animal control officers, Coffman entered the property, scooped up the puppies, and made a beeline for the vet. When she realized what was being used to silence the young pups, she was horrified.
Image credits: Wichita Animal Action League / Facebook
“We originally thought that it was wire wrapped around their noses because it was so tight,” Coffman explains. “When we finally got them in the vet’s office and were able to hold them still and take a look, we realized that it was little tiny rubber bands that you’d use in your hair, no bigger around than my thumb.”
Image credits: Wichita Animal Action League / Facebook
The puppies were soon collected and rushed to the vet, where closer inspection revealed their mouths were being held shut by rubber bands
Both pups had two rubber bands wrapped around their little snouts, which the vet thought had been left that way for up to 24 hours. Using forceps, the vet gently snipped off the bands, while Coffman and the two animal control officers in the room did their best to keep their emotions in check.
Image credits: Wichita Animal Action League / Facebook
If the bands had been left on for even a few more hours, the rescued puppies might have suffered major tissue damage, loss of smell, or worse. The pit bull mix siblings, now dubbed Westley and Debbie, certainly smell much better and, though their muzzles are still a bit tender, both are expected to make a complete recovery.
For now, they’re living their best life in a foster home, but they'll be ready for their forever home soon. “Last night I just kept thinking, ‘What if that pipe hadn’t burst? Would they have been found in time? Would they have lived?’” Coffman said. “You would never think that you would be thankful for a pipe bursting and flooding an apartment, but it literally saved two lives.”
After having the bands removed, the pups, now dubbed Westley and Debbie, are making a miraculous recovery and are healing happily in a foster home
