A black cat was saved from an awful death thanks to a husky named Koda. Koda usually stops to sniff around Fearless Kitty Rescue when he and his mom walk past it on their early morning walk.
He loves the smells! But on this day, Koda zipped over to the donation bench. On the bench was a zipped up cooler bag inside of a black garbage bag.
Koda started sniffing around the bag and refused to leave it. Teryn Jones, a spokesperson for Fearless Kitty Rescue, told The Dodo that it was as if Koda was telling his mom that something was inside that bag.
Saved by a sniff
Koda’s mom was taken aback by her doggo’s reaction and decided to open the bag and unzip the cooler. They were both surprised when a young black female cat’s head popped out of the bag.
The poor desperate kitty was gasping for air. It is unknown how long she was stuffed inside that cooler.
What is known is that she would have died if she had been in there much longer. Temperatures reached a high of 107 degress on that hot Arizona summer day.
Koda’s mom was able to get in contact with a volunteer at the rescue who brought the cat inside. Thankfully, the cat, who was named Juliane, didn’t sustain any physical injuries.
“She was just shaken up and was kind of in freeze-mode,” Jones said. “And that’s how she’s been since. She’s so sweet and very nervous and shy. But she loves being pet — she purrs and rolls around on her belly. The resilience of her, in going through, what she went through is really amazing.”
Safe and sound
Juliane means Fearless in Danish culture, accorrding to the recue’s Facebook page. The shelter said they were very grateful to Koda and his mom for saving Juliane’s life.
“Cat was saved by a dog. You don’t hear that every day,” Jones told KTVK.
Fearless Kitty Rescue said they were working with law enforcement regarding to incident.
“You just can’t do this to animals. Well, you can’t do this to anybody, let’s be honest,” Jones said. “Animals don’t have a voice; they can’t tell you what’s going on.”
Despite the terrible act of cruelty, the shelter wanted to make sure that Koda and his mother’s act of kindness is what people remember about this story. They were very grateful for all the positivity and awareness Juliane’s story created for animal welfare.
Juliane was placed in foster care and eventually adopted. Thanks to Koda, Juliane is making her new family very happy.