Salvation For A Street Animal. A Dobie is found 40-50 pounds underweight, barely able to move. His teeth are worn to nubs from rock chewing. Starved and dehydrated, he seems beyond hope. A SACH/Kinship team spots the Doberman Pincher slumped outside the locked gate of a house alongside a road. He is emaciated. We pull over and walk back a quarter mile to the dog. He doesn't trust our approach, yet lets us come near when he sniffs food. We ask the home owner what he knows about the animal. The man says the Dobie has laid there for over a week. He stresses his dislike for street dogs and refuses to feed him. Without fast action on our end, this Dobie is dead. But we are at the end of a long field day, with no space in the van. No equipment to humanely transport him. No medication to stabilize him. Given our lack of resources, we decide to leave him with plenty of food and water and return for him tomorrow. We feel that one more night won't cause the dog to leave his chosen spot. SACH director Alejandra Cassino is already on the phone to find foster or adoptive care. She locates caregivers willing to take him.

Early the next morning, Kinship Circle responders Tracie Dawson and Byron Wilkes return to the location with three Chilean veterinarians. The Dobie seems happy to see us, but also senses Something Big underway. He begins to trot down the hill, toward a congested road. It is Easter morning and traffic is thick. Byron and Tracie head for the street to slow cars. Then Byron stays below the Dobie, forcing him to retreat into Tracie at the top of the hill. Despite his frailty, the Dobie eludes us for 20 minutes. Finally Tracie, Byron and a vet get a slip leash around his neck. Once secure, the dog relaxes in his rescuers' arms and allows vets to insert an anesthesia needle. The team vigilantly monitors vital signs as fur is shaved on the dog's leg to attach an antibiotic drip. The Dobie is carefully lifted into the van. We don't know how much time the dog needs for anesthesia recovery, so we must swiftly transfer him to a safe site. His immune system is already compromised. Previous trauma, combined with the rescue process, could result in his death. We hurry to the foster home, where a bed awaits inside an enclosure that opens into a backyard. The home is situated in a compound near a Chilean Navy Hospital, so medical care is nearby. During the 20-minute drive, we hold the saline/antibiotic bag high above the dog and monitor his breathing. At the foster home, his vitals are stable. We rig a system to hang the fluid pouch so meds steadily flow into his system. About two hours post-anesthesia, a groggy boy awakens ready to eat. He gobbles food with street-dog gusto, as if unsure when he'll eat again. Byron offers the caregiver money to defray costs for food and meds. The woman turns to Byron with tears in her eyes, “No thank you. He is mine now. I love him and I will take care of him forever.” Amen. UPDATEA report from the Dobie's caregivers reflects the resilience of nonhuman animals. All want to live. And this dog does, beautifully. He eats, drinks and plays with three fellow rescue dogs.