FOUNTAIN HILLS, Ariz. — Thanks to a curious dog, this animal tale had a happy ending.
A husky discovered a black cat zipped up in a cooler that was inside a plastic bag outside an Arizona animal shelter, saving the feline, KTVK reported.
“Cat was saved by a dog. You don’t hear that every day,” Fearless Kitty Rescue spokesperson Teryn Jones told the television station.
On Saturday morning, a woman was walking her husky, named Koda, and passed by the Fearless Kitty Rescue, a no-kill cat shelter in Fountain Hills, KNXV reported.
The dog saw a garbage bag on a bench and went over to sniff it, the television station reported. When Koda continued to sniff, the owner opened the bag and found the cooler with the young female cat inside and still alive.
Jones said there was no way to know how long the cat, now named Juliane, had been confined inside a cooler on a hot summer morning, KTVK reported. The cat is doing well, but veterinarians discovered a mass on her tail that could lead to amputation, the television station reported.
“We got (her name) from the Danish culture; it means fearless and, of course, we are Fearless Kitty Rescue,” Jones told KTVK. “We think she is the true definition of fearless.”
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the case.
“You just can’t do this to animals. Well, you can’t do this to anybody, let’s be honest,” Jones told KTVK. “Animals don’t have a voice; they can’t tell you what’s going on.”