Story : Runners Hear Rustling In The Woods And End Up Saving Five Little Lives

When Ashley Blake and her cross-country running partner set out on a track through a Tennessee woodland last week, they had no idea that they would wind up saving a life. However, five baby animals were ultimately spared the most catastrophic outcome.

About six miles into their 14-mile trip in Frozen Head State Park, Blake and her friend Joshua Scott heard a faint sound off the trail. They stopped, spun around, and took a look.

“It was just a slight rustle that got us,” Blake said to The Dodo. We anticipated hearing forest creatures because they are common. There was a shadowy mound there when we turned around.

Blake and Scott cautiously walked up to the dark mass and knew what it was.

“Five pups huddled together,” as Blake put it, was the scene. “They were trying to stay warm in the almost frigid temperatures. As a trail runner, you come across a lot of wildlife, but not often puppies.

Scott and Blake immediately asked the park staff for help. Then they walked outside to reassure the frightened puppies and shield them from the weather.

They were “terrified and weeping,” according to Blake. They relaxed once they realized we weren’t trying to injure them and that we were warm.

The heroes the puppies had been looking for had been found.

The puppies weren’t there by accident, it became evident as soon as a ranger arrived to help.

A tranquil path that winds through the woods is nearby and draws those wishing to get rid of their pets.

They were left without anything to eat or drink, a blanket, or their mother, according to Blake. The park ranger claims that this is not the first time puppies have been abandoned here.

Blake, Scott, and the ranger carried the puppies to the vehicle. The small dogs were now safe and in great hands since Blake and Scott made the decision to halt and look into the cause of the rustling sound they had heard.

The dogs were constantly on the runners’ minds as they made their way along their path.

We completed our run with renewed vigor, carried along by the excitement of what had just happened. A legitimate animal rescue group, Blake claimed. They either would have frozen or been prey for the wild animals that night, in my opinion.

The ranger and his family made the choice to keep the five puppies that evening in order to make arrangements to deliver them to a nearby animal shelter the following day. On the other side, Blake and Scott went to view the little puppies they had saved.

Scott decided to take one of the puppies home.

Barkley, as he’s now known, has found a forever home

But his siblings also require their own.

The Tennessee Oak Ridge Animal Shelter will soon have the final four puppies available for adoption.

If there is any possibility, Barkley’s siblings will be able to have long, fulfilling lives as beloved pets; otherwise, their horrible health would have gone unnoticed and they would not have had this opportunity. Blake feels fortunate to have had this opportunity to make a difference:

We were in the right place at the right time, she said.