Once Abused, Michigan Dog Saves Toddler Alone In The Cold

When it seemed no one else cared what happened to a naked, shivering 3-year-old girl who was found curled up in a ball in freezing weather on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Peanut did. The hound mix yelped, barked and ran up and down the hall of her home in Rapid River, making a fuss until her family took notice and rescued the toddler.

Hailed as a hero on the Delta Animal Shelter’s Facebook page, Peanut may have empathized due to her own heartbreaking past. A year ago, she arrived at the shelter with “two broken legs, a belly full of carpet and broken ribs,” all suffered in abuse shelter officials say occurred over time, according to the post. Peanut’s former owner was convicted of animal abuse, and the dog got “a great home with a wonderful family.”

Her new family thinks Peanut “still has some ‘sixth sense’ about her past life that she has carried with her,” according to an unsigned letter on the shelter’s Facebook page that the Delta County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed contains true details of the events that led to the little girl’s rescue on March 20.

At about 11 a.m., Peanut sounded the alert.

“She was running up and down the stairs, barking and yelping,” the author of the letter wrote. “She then went and got my husband, who was in the garage working on some projects, and alerted him that she wanted to go outside.

“He said he could hear her running around upstairs but didn’t understand why,” the letter continued. “He let her outside where she went barreling into the field behind our house at full speed. My husband followed her and to his surprise, he found a naked, shivering, 3-year-old girl curled up in a ball. He scooped her up, wrapped her in his sweatshirt, and brought her inside.

“He called 911 and reported the incident. By the time the ambulance and police arrived, the little girl could only say one thing — ‘doggie.’

“Thanks to Peanut, a little girl’s life was saved today. She has been such a blessing to us, and now to others. Words cannot express how grateful we are that we have Peanut in our lives and how amazing she is. She is a part of our family now and thanks to wonderful people like you at the shelter, she is alive. Without her, not only would she have been gone from this world, but the life of this little girl might have been taken as well.”

The Delta County Sheriff’s Office told WJBK-TV the little girl’s parents were found nearby in a residence with “unsafe and unsanitary living conditions” and that she and another young girl in the home were removed from the home. Prosecutors are reviewing charges against the girl’s parents.

Photo via Delta Animal Shelter, used with permission