Dogs are pretty tough, but this is just an amazing story of survival. A dog was spotted on the ice floating down the Vistula River in Poland 60 miles inland. Firefighters were unable to rescue him. Two days later the same dog was seen 15 miles out in the Baltic Sea. The crew of a research vessel were eventually able to rescue the poor dog. This dog survived 3 days, traveled 75 miles on ice, and survived the particularly harsh weather Poland is having.
The ship’s crew have named the dog Baltic and are planning on keeping him. Two people claimed he was theirs, but Baltic didn’t recognize them and the crew didn’t give him up. Sounds like the crew is pretty protective of him. Lucky dog! Check out the dramatic video.
Remember that gut-wrenching video, Just One Dog, about the dejected white pitbull with mange and eye infections in California shelter? (The video was made by Cathy at CampCocker.) Well, a bunch of good things have been happening to Stanley since then and he’s doing so much better! He’s now being fostered in a home by the Respect-A-Bull rescue group in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. His skin and eyes are improving, he has more energy, he’s playing, sleeping in a snuggly bed, and giving out lots of kisses.
Stanley’s story is great, but here’s the thing I think we have to remember—Stanley isn’t special, at all. He really is just one dog out of thousands and thousands of dogs. I think we tell ourselves the fiction that Stanley is special so we won’t feel so bad about the millions of dogs destroyed every year in the US alone. The majority of the dogs destroyed in shelters are no different than Stanley. They just never got a chance. Tons of people have offered to adopt Stanley. I hope so much that they will instead adopt just one other dog.
Please support your local rescue groups. If you want to help out Respect-A-Bull, you can donate on their site or purchase a Stanley shirt.
