After locals noticed a skinny, injured stray wandering around Tuscola a few of them started a group chat to organize help for her. A rescuer came from Midland to set a trap to catch her. After a few days with no results, Michelle Rodriguez traveled from Abilene to re-bait the trap. Later that night, she says she got a call that was not what she expected,
“and said, hey, there's a dog in that trap. It's got porcupine quills in his face.”
Michelle took her daughter and her neighbor Debbie to check the trap, “And we get up there. And it's not Jayla, it's Cactus Jack.” The women had been hoping to catch the boxer mix they’d seen and were surprised to find a shepherd inside the cage. They loaded Cactus Jack into their car and reset the trap. After getting him settled at Debbie’s house, Michelle decided to go back to see if Jayla might have come around. “Wouldn't it be something if she was in the trap when we came back? And she said, yeah, that'd be something. So she grabbed her purse, drove back up, and she was in the trap.”
Jayla was in even worse condition than Cactus Jack was, and severely malnourished. Once they had both dogs, the group headed to the emergency vet who removed dozens of quills, prescribed antibiotics, and put Jayla on a feeding schedule to help her gain weight.
Local animal shelters were already caring for more cats and dogs than they officially had space for. But five and a half hours away staff at the Houston K-911 Rescue had seen the social media post and joined in the effort. The staff offered to take the dogs and help them find homes. The day after they had been caught, Anna Barbosa with the rescue set up a transportation relay from Abilene to Houston. Michelle drove the first 40 minute leg of the journey to Santa Anna, “They had kind of like a relay that they do, which was really cool. I've never really been a part of that before.”
Once in Houston, both dogs were examined and received further medical treatment. Vets performed surgery to remove more quills and a benign tumor on Jayla’s spleen.
Anna says she thinks the boxer mix was in such bad shape that she probably wouldn’t have survived without the community’s help, “If they had still been out there, she probably would have died pretty soon. It’s kinda like a miracle, divine intervention that she's with us now.” Anna says both are making a great recovery, “They’re doing fabulous. They are just full of life, full of joy, just happy dogs.”
Michelle has a big heart for helping stray animals and she’s grateful to all those who contributed to the success of this rescue mission. “It was a community of like-minded people that really came together to help them out. And I mean, everybody that had a part, whether it was sharing the information or just giving advice, anything had an impact, and people who donate it, I know there's a lot of people that donate it to the rescue, which is amazing.” And that community of dog lovers collaborating to save Jayla and Cactus Jack spreads all the way to Iowa. Last week Dogs Forever in Cedar Rapids took them and has kept working on their rehabilitation. The rescue raised funds to pay for Jayla’s heartworm treatment, and the staff is looking for a foster home for her. Cactus Jack is listed for adoption.