When rescuers from Animal Aid Unlimited, India (AAUI) got an emergency call last May, they didn’t expect what they were about to see.
On the other end of the line, a Good Samaritan’s voice trembled:
“Three puppies have fallen into hot road tar — they can’t move.”
By the time the rescue team arrived, the tar had cooled and hardened. The tiny pups were completely trapped — their fur sealed to the ground, their bodies stiff, eyes wide with fear.
“Without rescue, they would have died of thirst,” AAUI later wrote. “They couldn’t move, no matter how hard they tried.”
Rescuers knelt down carefully, prying each little body from the blackened earth. The puppies whimpered softly as they were lifted out — finally free from the pavement that had nearly claimed their lives.
At the shelter, the team immediately got to work. Water wouldn’t help — tar repels it. But the rescuers knew the trick: cooking oil.
“We’ve had tar babies before,” AAUI wrote. “So we began bathing them in oil, gently rubbing to loosen the hardened tar.”
For hours, they massaged the thick oil into the puppies’ fur, melting away layer after layer of asphalt. They paused only to syringe-feed the weak pups or offer sips of water. Slowly, patches of clean fur began to reappear — soft brown and white against all that black.
“After three hours, we began to see clean fur,” they said. “But the puppies were so tired.”
You can see more footage from their rescue here:
The team let the pups rest overnight before continuing the painstaking process again the next day — and the day after that.
By the third day, the miracle was complete. The three siblings — Bingo, Checkers, and Parcheesi — were unrecognizable. Once stiff with tar, they now bounded around their pen, tails wagging, eyes bright.
Their rescuers could finally smile too.
Not long after, all three puppies found loving forever homes — where they’d never again have to fight for their lives on the side of a road.
“Thank you for giving us the means to have enough help to save lives,” AAUI wrote. “Because of you, hundreds of smiles — and wagging tails — are possible.”
From tar pits to warm beds, Bingo, Checkers, and Parcheesi are living proof that kindness really can unstick even the darkest moments.
If you’d like to help more animals like them, you can donate to Animal Aid Unlimited, India here.
