

Joanne Schnurr , CTV Ottawa





A two-month-old pup is thriving tonight at the Ottawa Humane Society after coming back from the brink of death. The puppy was nearly frozen to death off a snowmobile trail in Manotick when a Good Samaritan rescued it. Patches, as she is called now, is doing remarkably well, considering the condition she was in yesterday. Her body temperature was so low that most animals would not have survived.

Patches doesn't like being left alone these days, barking her frustration at being left in a cage at the Humane Society. Little wonder, after her journey yesterday.

“She was flat out when they found her,” says Dominique Lalonde, the coordinator of Canine Services at the Ottawa Humane Society, “so she's kind of done a 360.”

Patches is an affectionate little pup, and nuzzles into Dominique’s neck as she holds her, “She’s already playing, giving affection as you can see, so she’s doing well.”

The two-month-old Jack Russell mix was found abandoned and nearly frozen on a snowmobile trail yesterday afternoon.

“A good Samaritan had found her on a snowmobile trail near Manotick,” says Bruce Roney, the Executive Director of the Ottawa Humane Society, “and she was very, very near death. Her body temperature was dangerously low and this is one lucky little terrier.”

Why she was there or how long she had been there, Roney doesn’t know. The person who found her rushed her to a nearby vet clinic. Vets at that clinic covered her with a warming blanket to bring her body temperature back up and hooked her up to IV fluids to stabilize her little body that was wracked with seizures. Clearly, those measures worked.

“She's a fighter,” says Roney, “She's terrier so we have high hopes. I do have to add that she is not available for adoption yet. She will be under observation for at least a couple of weeks.”

But she's clearly doing well, lappin' up all the love. The tail tells is all and it was beating furiously as Dominique Lalonde was holding her.

“I think she would just like anybody that hugs her,” added Lalonde.

If an owner comes forward, the Humane Society says it will have some questions for that person as to how the puppy ended up where she did. If there is no owner, once she is well enough, Patches will be available for adoption.