I'm not the one who got Beaumont, I just live in the area where he got his new home and think that he is a very lucky dog.. (Story reposted with permission)
Puppy frozen in Arctic snow gets a new lease on life in Valley
Beaumont is now a happy dog
BY FRED LAWRENCE
The Hants Journal
In a world where animal abuse stories are abundant, here is one dog tale that proves human kindness can save a life, and a whole lot more.
Sandi Lynn Bushey is teaching her first semester in Qikitarjuag, formerly called Pond Inlet, Nunavit. Walking home after class one evening with fellow teacher, Clint Bungay, the couple saw something lying on the snow bank. A quick look exposed a five-week-old arctic sled dog pup, left for dead in –25 C. A witness confirmed a snowmobile had struck the puppy; the driver of the skidoo did not stop.
Bushey’s mother Dorothy lives in Kentville and works in Windsor and is now co – parenting the pup with her son. The fateful experience is not something mother or daughter will soon forget. “Sandi Lynn picked the little pup up and it was literally frozen stiff and just barely alive,” Dorothy explains, “she tucked it under her coat and took it home with her.”
Bushey said the nearly perished pup was so cold and stiff it could not move or stand, its mouth was frozen partially open. Bushey recalls the phone conversation with her daughter, “when she called and told us what had happened, she said, ‘if he lives through the night can we keep him’, and I said ‘yes,’ not thinking it could survive after what it had gone through.” For two days and nights the thawing puppy whimpered. Knowing no medical help was available, the dedicated couple stayed awake for the first two nights nursing the little sled dog back to health by spoon-feeding warm milk into the cuddly canine’s partially opened mouth. “By the morning he was starting to show signs of real improvement,” Dorothy said, “we were on the phone a lot during this ordeal.”
The following morning the puppy was still very stiff but was starting to respond and become more mobile. Weighing slightly over 5 lbs when rescued the puppy had, within a week of constant care, had gained 3 lbs, and was well on the road to recovery.
There are no veterinarians in much of the Canadian north and no SPCA to care for injured, abused or abandoned animals. Southern visitors who have never been to northern communities are often appalled at how animals, particularly dogs, are sometimes treated.
When it came time to come home for Christmas, Sandi Lynn was missing a crucial piece of luggage – an animal carrier. With a leather suitcase and some ingenuity, the Samaritan teacher fashioned a travel case for the pup. “Everything was fine until they reached Ottawa,” Mrs. Bushey said, “The Captain spoke with her (Sandi Lynn) about the improper animal case but once she explained what happened they were able to continue.”
Initially the Bushey’s planned to find a good home for the puppy here in Hants Co. But that idea changed once the puppy, named Beaumont, arrived. Dorothy Bushey mused, “ because he had been frozen, we were worried that if he accidentally got left outside too long during a cold snap, he might not make it, plus we instantly became very attached to the little guy, he is just a beautiful ball of fluff and very lovable.”
Dorothy said the people of the county were very quick to offer a home for the Arctic pup. “We had a multitude of people offering to take the dog, but after everything we went through, the decision was made that we would share the dog with our son – who is just crazy over him, and the pup feels the same about our son.”
Dorothy Bushey believes all things happen for a reason. Earlier that very day the puppy was found, the Bushey’s had to have their family dog of 14 years put to sleep. “That was extremely difficult because the dog was very much a part of our family.” Looking back on things now Dorothy adds, “it was almost like that little dog just wasn’t meant to be up North.”
Beaumont, it sounds like you have been officially adopted by Nova Scotia - into a warm loving family far from the frozen north and the certain death it promised.
