Dog saves newborn abandoned in Kenyan forest CTV.ca News Staff
A newborn abandoned in a Kenyan forest was reportedly saved by a dog that nestled the child among her own litter of puppies.
According to witnesses, the dog found the two-week-old baby girl on the outskirts of Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, on Friday. The baby is believed to have been dumped there in a plastic bag.
Stephen Thoya told Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper that he saw the dog carry the baby across a busy road.
"I had just reached Lenana Forest when I heard the sound of a baby crying. I looked closely and I saw a dog carrying a baby wrapped in a black dirty cloth as it crossed the road," said Thoya.
"I was shocked at first and when I tried to get a closer look, the dog ran through the fence and disappeared along a dirt road."
The mixed-breed dog is said to have carried the baby through a barbed wire fence to a shed, where she was found.
The baby girl, christened "Angel" by hospital workers caring for her, was wrapped in a plastic bag when the dog found her, said Aggrey Mwalimu, owner of the shed.
"When the dog picked up the baby in a dirty bag, it came and dropped her behind the wooden building where the dog has its puppies," Mwalimu told The Associated Press Monday.
The mud-splattered baby was eventually rescued after two children reported hearing an infant's cries.
"I followed them outside and we started looking around the compound and a nearby plot," said Mary Adhiambo, the children's mother.
They found the dog lying protectively with a puppy beside the baby, Adhiambo said. There are conflicting reports on whether the dog was a stray or belonged to Adhiambo.
She told the Daily Nation that she fed the child, used warm water to wash her, and cleaned the umbilical cord with rubbing alcohol.
The infant was then taken to a nearby police station before she was admitted to Kenyatta National Hospital, where officials say she is doing well, The Associated Press reported.
Hannah Gakuo, spokeswoman of the Kenyatta National Hospital, said doctors believe the seven-pound, four-ounce newborn was abandoned about two days before the dog found her.
"She cried a lot during admission, because her umbilical cord was infected," Gakuo said.
"She is now very quiet. She just feeds and sleeps. I was there this morning and she looked at me and yawned, looked at me again and yawned."
"She is now fine. She is warm. She is in a separate room ... with a lady who is also nursing a baby admitted in hospital for treatment," Gakuo said.
"The lady is looking after her as if she is her own child."
Dozens of Kenyans have visited the newborn as news of her rescue gets around. The Kenyan newspaper also reports that offers of adoption have poured in.
Although there are no confirmed figures, infant abandonment is a problem in Kenya because of extreme poverty and failed relationships, officials have said.
With files from The Associated Press
At least this is one abandonned baby story that ends well; they're quite rare... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/puppyeyes.gif" alt="" /> That story reminded me of the Jungle Book tale, in wich the abandonned baby Mowgli is adopted by a mother wolf and raised with her pups. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
