Woman sees pile of “garbage” in road — then realizes it’s alive

“He sat in my lap in the front of the car, and he put his head on my shoulder, and he trusted me ever since.” No Images? [Click here]( June 18, 2018 Good morning! Today we have a “garbage” pile that turned out to be a sweet puppy, a cotton candy-colored lobster and a kitten who picked the worst spot for a nap. 1. Woman Sees Pile Of 'Garbage' In Road — Then Realizes It's Alive Photo Credit: Alix Mattingly Last December, Alix Mattingly traveled to Chelem, Mexico, to stay at her parents’ house when her trip took an unexpected turn. One morning, Mattingly went out to feed some stray dogs, since she always volunteers for No Mas Perritos, a local rescue group, when she visits her parents. When she was driving back to the house, she saw something strange on the road. “I saw this pile in the middle of the road,” Mattingly told The Dodo. “It really just looked like garbage. But the closer I got to it, I realized it was a dog.” Mattingly had less than a handful of dog food left, but she got out of the car and offered it to the dog, who looked sickly and skinny. The dog was skittish and he snarled at Mattingly when she came close — but he didn’t have enough strength to flee. “He tried to run away, but just collapsed,” Mattingly said. “So I laid some food out for him, went back into the car and gave him a second. Then he started getting up and kind of shifted and came closer to the car.” Mattingly got a towel and slowly approached the dog again. Then she slowly bent down and wrapped the towel around the dog and carried him to the car. “He just looked awful, so we gave him a little bit of water,” Mattingly said. “But we didn’t have a bowl or anything, so we gave him some water in a trash bag.” Then Mattingly drove the dog to the vet clinic. The dog, who was only about 6 months old, had other issues besides being underweight and dehydrated — he was riddled with parasites, including heartworms, and he had a bad case of mange. Someone had also poured gasoline over the dog, perhaps in an effort to cure his mange, Mattingly explained — and it had left chemical burns all over his body. Photo Credit: Alix Mattingly “It’s an old wives’ tale, especially in underdeveloped places, that gasoline and diesel fuel cure mange, which is not the case,” Mattingly said. On top of everything else, there was a rope embedded into the dog’s neck, which led Mattingly and the vet to believe that someone used to keep him tied up, but he’d chewed off the rope and escaped. Whatever happened, it was clear the dog had been grossly neglected — and the rope had dug so deeply into his skin that it needed to be surgically removed. “The vet told me ... that there was going to be an extensive [healing] process, and if I wasn’t 100 percent sure that I was willing to go through all of this with him that I should probably just put him down,” Mattingly said. “But I wanted to give him a chance at life. I couldn’t just give up on him that easily.” Mattingly made sure that the dog, whom she named Rico, got every treatment he needed, including a medicated bath, antibiotic shots and parasite treatments. Then Mattingly drove Rico back to her parents’ house in Chelem. It was during this car ride that Rico finally started to relax in Mattingly’s presence. “He sat in my lap in the front of the car, and he put his head on my shoulder, and he trusted me ever since,” Mattingly said. Photo Credit: Alix Mattingly During this time, the bond between Mattingly and Rico grew stronger and stronger, and Mattingly ultimately decided to adopt Rico. However, as the vet predicted, it took a long time for Rico to recover, and he had to remain in Mexico with Mattingly’s parents after Mattingly returned to the U.S. But in April, Mattingly’s parents drove Rico to the U.S. to reunite him with their daughter — and Mattingly couldn’t have been more thrilled. “He’s the happiest, sweetest dog that I have ever seen,” Mattingly said. “In spite of everything that he’s gone through, he goes up to strangers to get belly rubs. He wants to play with every dog he sees when we’re on a walk. He just sits right on your lap and wants to cuddle all of the time.” “He’s been a surprise, and it’s been wonderful,” Mattingly added. “To rescue him and bring him home with me, it’s been the most incredible thing.” 2. Fisherman Catches Rare 'Cotton Candy' Lobster — And Decides To Spare His Life Photo Credit: Instagram/Robinson Russel On a cold November day last year, lobsterman Robinson Russell was shocked to see what came up in his trap. “I live on a tiny island off the coast of New Brunswick, Canada, called Grand Manan,” Russell told The Dodo. “I have been fishing for over 20 years and it’s the first one I’ve ever seen of that color.” With his bright, almost translucent shell glowing with hints of pale blue and purple, Lucky the lobster couldn’t help but stand out from the crowd. Though at times he appears white, Lucky does not have albinism. His unique rainbow pigmentation has even earned him the nickname the “cotton candy” lobster. While lobsters can appear in a variety of colors due to genetic mutations — including bright orange, blue and yellow — researchers with the Lobster Institute at the University of Maine estimate that a lobster like Lucky is one in 100 million. Photo Credit: Facebook/Huntsman Marine Science Center Russell knew Lucky was special — and he couldn’t bring himself to let the unusual animal end up on someone’s plate. “We named it Lucky on the way in, and I posted a few photos of it on Instagram,” Russell said. “I really didn’t want to sell it, so I ended up donating it to the Huntsman [Marine] Aquarium in St. Andrews where it will now live out the rest of its days.” While we still hope this lobster makes it back to the wild one day, Russell's act of kindness has ensured he has another chance at life. 3. Little Kitten Went Missing For 10 Hours — Until Someone Looked Beneath Car's Hood Photo Credit: Caroline County Sheriff's Office A tiny kitten was playing around his house in Virginia one day when he slipped outside and noticed a car parked in the driveway. He climbed up into the car’s engine to explore, and accidentally ended up a little stuck. The car belonged to a friend of the kitten’s family, and when the driver came back outside, he had no idea the kitten was in the engine compartment of his car — and drove 12 miles back home, with the tiny kitten stuck inside the car the whole time. The next morning, 10 hours later, the man heard tiny meows coming from inside his car, peeked inside the engine compartment to investigate, and discovered the kitten, very scared and very, very stuck. The man tried to get the kitten out on his own, but soon realized he was going to need some help and contacted the Caroline County Sheriff's Office. Deputy J.B. Sletten got the unusual call and quickly rushed out to the man’s house in hopes that he could help rescue the mischievous kitten. “It was an interesting process because while I was trying to free the kitten, he kept biting my hand through my gloves,” Deputy Sletten told The Dodo. Photo Credit: Caroline County Sheriff's Office The kitten was incredibly scared and didn’t understand what was happening, but after about 20 minutes, Deputy Sletten was finally able to maneuver him out of the car. As soon as he was free, the kitten immediately latched onto his rescuer, so happy to finally be out of the cramped engine compartment. Luckily, the kitten was OK and wasn’t hurt at all during his ordeal, and was soon reunited with his worried family. While rescuing animals may seem like an unusual task for a police officer, Deputy Sletten is no stranger to it. In the past, he’s rescued a deer stuck under a porch and a snake inside a post office — so it’s incredibly lucky that he was the one available to come out and help. Man Never Liked Animals Until He Met An Amazing Rabbit [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( The Dodo 100 Crosby St., 201 New York, NY 10012 [Forward]( [Unsubscribe](