February 19, 2008

EDGERTON, Wis. – Their whole lives were ahead of them, but for 66 who ended up in a southern Wisconsin kill shelter, their time to find a forever home nearly ended short.

That’s when Minneapolis-based Safe Hands Rescue agreed to give the dogs, mostly puppies, a second chance for adoption.

Early Sunday morning, February 10, three volunteers loaded the 66 dogs into kennels, and began their drive from Wisconsin to the Twin Cities.

While traveling on Interstate 69-90, the cargo van hit a patch of ice and slammed into a guardrail on the Highway 59 overpass near Edgerton, Wis.

“My first concern was for the dogs,” said Safe Hands Rescue volunteer Janine Campbell, who was driving the van when it crashed but was not injured.

While some of the kennels broke open in the accident, most of the dogs were too scared to leave their cages. However, one little puppy was missing, Campbell said.

Thirty frightening minutes later, the pup was discovered by firefighters, frozen to the driver’s-side wheel well. In the course of the accident, a jug broke and somehow spilled water onto the puppy’s fur.

“She could barely move,” said Lynne Bengtson, Safe Hands Rescue volunteer. “I thought there was no way she was going to make it.”

The puppy and 65 other dogs were towed off the highway to the Hillside Springs Hunt Club. Acting quickly, owner Andy Walton brought the dogs into the club’s kennel and called his veterinarian, Terry Johnson.

Arriving with food and supplies, Johnson then examined the animals. Most of the puppies were just fine, but a few were dehydrated and one had a bruised leg.

Hearing the news about the stranded puppies, The Twig Project, a Madison, Wisc. rescue group, brought donations. They also offered to shelter some of the puppies who required extra care.

But more help was needed, so Walton and his son spread the word by calling friends and relatives.

“People just started showing up,” Bengtson said. “They fed, they watered, they comforted these poor animals.”

The next day, all the puppies were cleared for traveling on to Minnesota in a second van. But it was decided that one pup was to stay behind, the one rescued from the wheel well.

Apparently, her tenacity to survive pulled the heartstrings of Johnson and his wife, who adopted her that day.

“She’s like a new puppy, a normal puppy,” Johnson said on her improved condition. “It’s unbelievable.”

If you would like to help these lucky dogs, contact the Safe Hands Rescue through their Web site at safehandsrescue.org.

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Special thanks to WCCO for contributions to this story.