Dr. Michael White, director of Harris County Animal Shelter in Texas, turned on the local news on May 30th. He saw images on the TV screen of his own workplace! It showed the entrance to the animal shelter, with its gate still locked up for the evening.
The shelter had just made the news for the staggering number of animals that had been surrendered over Memorial Day Weekend, a record-breaking 200 cats and dogs!
“I was watching the local news and I saw Janelle [Bludau], the reporter, outside our facility at the gate out by the road,” White told The Dodo. “She was talking about this dog she found, who had been chained to our front gate when she came to the shelter that morning.”
Bludau reported that she would stay with the dog until someone came to open the shelter that morning, so that is when Dr. White leaped from his chair, quickly got dressed, and drove 45 minutes to work.
Video Source/Janelle Bludau/Twitter
Dr. White greeted the two-year-old Lab mix and saw she was in fairly good shape considering all she had been through. She was diagnosed as heartworm positive with a flea infestation. Shelter workers decided to name the sweet dog Janelle, in honor of Bludau for finding her.
Here’s Janelle being led inside after her ‘ruff’ night chained to the fence.
Janelle was so far along that Dr. White knew it would be any time now. He wanted her to have a safe, quiet place to give birth. So, the kind doctor brought Janelle home.
“I decided I wasn’t going to leave her there any longer, and I took her home,” White said. “I didn’t want her to stay up there in that condition. I hate for animals to give birth in a shelter situation.”
As soon as Janelle arrived at the White’s home, they could see how loving she is. She would try to climb up on everyone’s lap to give them lots of love but with her size (and pregnancy) that proved to be difficult ???? But you couldn’t fault her for trying!
Then, just a few days later, Janelle showed signs of distress. She stopped eating and started acting funny. Luckily, though, she ended up at the perfect foster home! Dr. White had delivered MANY litters. Janelle was certainly in good hands.
Her first contraction was around 9 pm but with all their experience, Dr. White and his wife had a feeling this was going to be a long process.
“My wife and I stayed up with her all night assisting in each delivery,” White said. “At 3:36 a.m., [puppy] number 10 was born, and we thought that was it, but number 11 was born at 6:05 a.m. It was a long night for me, my wife and Janelle.”
“We were trying to tag team, but every time we would hear a noise, we were jumping up and looking in the pen,” White added. “So we may have gotten one hour of sleep each in increments that night.”
11 puppies?! OH EM GEE! And all were happy and healthy! Seems Janelle did end up in the right hands!
Dr. White reports that Janelle is an excellent mother! She makes sure all the puppies have exactly what they need and keeps their ‘den’ nice and clean.
As soon as the puppies are weaned, all the dogs will be put up for adoption. Janelle will also be spayed.
Thanks to a heroic reporter and a warm-hearted veterinarian, Janelle and her litter are doing great. As sad as it was to find Janelle shackled to a fence, she ended up exactly where she needed to be.
Here’s Janelle AND Janelle meeting outside the shelter for the first time!
