When Megan, a dog rescuer in Tennessee, spotted a heavily pregnant pit bull roaming alone through a parking lot, her heart sank.
The pup was just days — maybe hours — away from giving birth, and she had nowhere safe to go.
“It just broke my heart thinking about her having her babies on her own,” Megan said in a video for The Dodo.
Megan knew there was no time to waste. If the dog disappeared before giving birth, rescuers might never find her — or her puppies.
At first, Megan tried to coax the nervous mama to safety with chicken, but fear kept the dog at a distance. With no way to safely catch her right away, Megan realized she’d need a different approach.
So she came up with a plan.
Megan set up a humane trap with irresistible food, knowing the mama would eventually need help once the puppies arrived. After the dog gave birth, she finally stepped inside the trap — and Megan quickly fitted her with a collar containing a tracking device.
Now, instead of chasing the frightened dog, all they had to do was follow her.
“It worked so well,” Megan said. “We could track her right on our phones and see exactly where she was going.”
That’s when they noticed something incredible.
The mama dog kept returning to the same spot — a quiet house nearby. Rescuers watched closely as she slipped beneath a shed, where she had carefully hidden her newborn puppies.
With their location confirmed, the rescue team moved quickly. One by one, they gently retrieved each puppy and reunited them with their brave mom before bringing the entire family to safety.
Warm, secure and finally able to rest, the mama and her babies had everything they needed to heal and grow.
Before long, each puppy found a loving forever home — and so did the devoted mom, who now spends her days adored by her new family.
What started as a lonely walk through a parking lot ended with full hearts, warm beds and the happy lives this little family always deserved.
