As the saying goes, cats are more likely to have multiple lives. In Canada, a puppy shows that this could also be true for dogs. In any case, eight-month-old Coco puts on an impressive performance when she encounters a huge bald eagle.
A trip to the front yard is just the right amount of adventure for a puppy. That's probably what a family in the Canadian province of British Columbia thought when they let their Yorkshire dog Coco romp around in front of the terrace unsupervised.
The eight-month-old dog seemed to be having a lot of fun at first too. Her owner, Justin Dudoward, reports that the pup found wood to chew on. But then the trip takes a dramatic turn. In a 23-second video Dudoward shared on Facebook, Coco can be seen barking excitedly. In the next moment, a bald eagle appears in the picture and prepares to get the puppy as its next meal.
One moment Coco is still on the porch, the next the eagle grabs the dog and tries to fly away with her. All you can hear is the dog whimpering. The fate of the little dog seems sealed. But then Coco suddenly reappears in the picture, still whimpering and, in the last resort, escapes to the front door. "It was really scary," Dudoward told Storyful.
In the meantime, the family has also become aware that his daughter cried out in fear, the man says. They quickly bring Coco to safety. At first it looks as if the bitch only got scratches when she met the eagle. But the huge bird's razor-sharp claws left serious injuries in its wake. Coco needs veterinary care after the family realizes that parts of her intestines are hanging out from an injury to her stomach.
The family only understands how close the dog is to certain death when they look at the surveillance images from their front door. But this time, too, the bitch proves to be a fighter. After three days of treatment, Coco was back to normal, Dudoward said. The little dog is now playing again in the garden of the house in the village of Metlakatla, "as if nothing had happened".
(This article was first published on Wednesday, June 29, 2022.)
