Dogs are one of the most loyal animals. YouTube video of a 4-month-old puppy who refused to leave his dead mother's side went viral on Facebook.
Now his story is headed to the Dr. Drew show where Prince the puppy will act as a therapy dog for recovering addicts.
The puppy's mother had been hit on Highway 58 near Comanche and her body had been there for days.
"We got a call that a mama dog had been hit by a car and her puppy was not leaving her," animal rescue volunteer Courtney Clerico said. "I knew that I had to get out there and help."
Clerico, who volunteers with The Cat People, and Katy Hudson, who volunteers with Friends of Greyhounds, made it their mission to rescue the puppy. They shot video of the rescue as they tried to coax the scared and skinny dog to safety.
"He was panting so hard he must have been out in the heat for a very long time and he was distressed it was terrible," Clerico said.
Finally the two were able to coral the dog into a fenced utility area. As volunteers approached the puppy - fighting for survival - he snapped and growled.
"I was literally crawling towards him on my belly and I don't know how long it took me to belly crawl across the yard to get to him over pipes and everything," Hudson said. "It's just a matter letting him know you are not going to hurt him and it's so frustrating but you have to be patient."
With a little patience and persistence Clerico and Hudson finally crated the puppy.
"Once he was in that crate laying down and had some water his tail wagged just a little bit and it gave us hope," Clerico said.
Hope that this lucky pup, now named Prince, would have a second chance. Loyal to his mother, he will now be loyal to his new adoptive family.
"Its about loyalty it's about love," Hudson said. "I mean you have a puppy that won't leave its dead mother how much more touching is that."
"A lot of times we humanize our dogs and they just emulate these qualities that we wish people had," she added.
The local rescue Marley's Mutts is in the process of finding a permanent home for Prince through adoption. If you would like to be considered you can fill out the foster form on their website,
http://marleysmutts.com/The YouTube video has more than 256,000 hits through Facebook.
