/Bump
A 12-week-old puppy has miraculously overcome a harrowing
ordeal and survived being locked inside an impounded car for nearly
a month.
The Kansas City, Mo., animal shelter now caring for the terrier and
schnauzer mix they’ve named Kia said she survived by eating trash
left in the car from a McDonald’s restaurant. However, she apparently
did not have access to water, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
A car lot worker spotted Kia on Monday. Danny Rotert, spokesman
for the Kansas City municipal government, said the employee was
tagging cars for auction when Kia jumped on top of the dashboard of
the Chevy Suburban in which she was trapped. The lot attendant
then called the police, who broke into the impounded vehicle to
rescue her. The vehicle had been sitting in the lot since April 8.
The Kansas City Star reports that on May 1, the owner of the vehicle,
who has not been publicly named, showed up to inspect the car.
However, he reportedly made no mention of owning a dog.
Authorities say they are not sure if the man was actually in
possession of the vehicle when it was impounded and noted that he
did not have keys to access the vehicle when he visited the lot.
An Arizona Republic article reports that dogs usually cannot go more
than two or three days without water and, as a general rule, require
twice as much water as food on any given day.
“Without an appreciable amount of water, it’s pretty miraculous for a
puppy to survive three weeks in a car,” veterinarian Billie Deam told
the Star. “Physiologically it’s possible, depending on what she was
eating to survive on,” she added. “But it’s really stretching the outer
limits of what’s possible.”
Animal shelter spokeswoman Toni Fugate says Kia is expected to
survive, but is currently recovering from severe dehydration and
malnutrition.
While Kia won’t be fully healed for some time, the Kansas Pet Project
says it is working on finding a foster home for her once she is ready
to leave the shelter.