Nation’s Largest No-Kill Rescue Shelter Opens in Alabama to Save 5,000 Dogs a Year:
– Big Dog Ranch Rescue Shelter
Macon County Kennels, the largest no-kill rescue shelter in the U.S., has newly opened a shelter named Big Dog Ranch in Alabama to help combat a pet overpopulation crisis in the southeastern United States. It was renovated from an old greyhound training center into a facility that has the capacity to save, rehabilitate, and adopt out up to 5,000 dogs per year. Located in Macon County, the intention of the founders was to service a region encompassing eight states including Florida and to help dogs find new homes across America. Currently, its three renovated buildings include space for 100 dogs and a veterinary center, but a further 13 kennels are still undergoing work. The 33-acre campus also includes work centers for several admirable programs, including one that unites veterans suffering from PTSD with abandoned service dogs, and a senior dog center that will pair pooches who’ve lost their elderly owners with other senior citizens looking for a new friend.
A Baby Born Weighing 1.18-lb Has Finally Come Home After Spending 4 Months in Hospital Fighting for Life:
Baby Isla / SWNS
A baby born weighing less than a loaf of bread at just 535 grams has finally returned home to sleep in her own room. Lauren Ormston’s pregnancy was initially smooth sailing. All her scans came back healthy including one at 20-week and she expected to welcome her baby on July 1st. But on March 4, she began to get severe pains in her abdomen and when she went to the hospital in Surrey, England, she learned she was going into premature labor. She was immediately induced and two hours later gave birth to baby Isla, weighing just 1.18-lb. Doctors told the 27-year-old and her fiancé that the baby had only a 10% chance of survival due to her size. Baby Isla was later diagnosed with a level two bleed on the brain and a hole in the heart. After spending four months in the hospital, Isla was finally discharged in July, weighing 10 lbs 8oz. It was an emotional rollercoaster, but now Lauren is over the moon that Isla is home and happy.
Trucker is Named a Highway Angel for Rescuing Crash Victims After Witnessing High Speed Collision:
Tony Doughty / Highway Angel
A truck driver from Greenville, Texas, was named a ‘Highway Angel’ for stopping his travels to administer aid to two injured drivers after witnessing an incredible crash. One morning two weeks ago, Tony Doughty was driving eastbound on Interstate 40 near Albuquerque, when he witnessed a red car ram into a Jeep while going around 70 miles per hour. He watched the Jeep flip over before the car crashed into a concrete barrier. The accident unfolded while Tony was driving on the opposite side of the highway. Doughty, a 15-year trucker who drives for Minnesota’s Bay & Bay Transportation, stopped in his tracks and jumped out of his truck with his EMT bag. The driver of the red Chevy had a broken leg, so Doughty put a splint on it while the man in his 30s admitted to being either withdrawing or overdosing on fentanyl and methadone. Doughty partnered with the police to relay the vitals of the crash victims to their dispatch and stayed on the scene until the ambulance departed. As a driver with over two million safe driving miles under his belt, this exemplary trucker was ready and prepared, stopping to help when most people wouldn’t.
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