๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ข๐ ๐๐จ๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐ก๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐๐ฌ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ฌ
Team members at a remote elephant research camp in Botswana are used to seeing their share of injured animals, but were shocked to see a small dog dragging herself towards them one day.
Poppy must have sensed that these people could help, because now she is loved and getting the medical treatment sheโs needed.
But it was a domesticated dog who would soon be making a home of the camp.
The team took Poppy under their wing, amazed that she had traveled so far to reach them and had survived the journey.
Better the rain than the scorching, arid heat, as the camp is just north of the Kalahari Desert. The researchers monitored Poppy for a few days, and as soon as he could, Graham McCulloch made the right-hour drive with her to a veterinarian.
She needed corrective surgery, so team member Amanda Stronza set up a GoFundMe page to raise the funds to be able to do so.
โ[The vet] said the chances were slim she could make it through the surgery or recovery afterward,โ Stronza explained. โBut she had so much life in her, and I knew we needed to honor her will to live and the hard fight she had already fought to find us and stay alive. I couldnโt agree to euthanize her.โ
She was even able to put some weight on her atrophied hind legs. Every day she showed her rescuers just how special she was.
โHer eyes pulled us in immediately,โ Stronza said. โThey are huge, imploring, and sparkling with life. She bursts with the sweetest spirit, and we could see that clearly, despite the desperate condition she was in.โ
Many people have already expressed an interest in adopting her.
โShe already has so many people all over the world who love her from a distance and are checking on her progress daily and are eager to see a happy outcome, namely adoption into a loving family,โ Stronza said.
โShe will regain her ability to walk, or she will gain wheels to help her around. I think she has a bright future!โ