In Essex County: Kindhearted Dog Rescues Pet Mice Tossed In Trash

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — If you’re looking for a new canine companion with a great nose and a guardian instinct, then take a look at “Harvey Dent,” Essex County.

During a recent walk in Branch Brook Park, the year-old bull terrier mix helped to sniff out and rescue two pet mice that had been callously thrown out in a garbage can while still inside their carrier, volunteers with the Caldwell-based FernDog Rescue Foundation told Patch.

Andrea Joy Albrecht, the volunteer who was walking Harvey at the time of his amazing find, said that the pair had just finished their third mile when the dog started to pull her towards some nearby trash cans.

“It was unlike him because he's great on the leash and usually stays right by my side while we run,” Albrecht said. “So I followed him over there and found these two little frantic mice in this tiny little carrier filled with food that had been dumped in the trash can.”

Albrecht told Patch that Harvey sniffed them curiously and looked up at her as if to say, “Can we help them?”

Keeping Harvey nearby, Albrecht had a little picnic in the park and waited around to see if anyone claimed the mice. When nobody did, she took them along on their walk.

Albrecht said that she was eventually able to find a rescue that would help to adopt out the homeless mice.

The experience has convinced Albrecht – who was already a fan of Harvey’s gentleness with small creatures, including his former foster parents’ cat – that the canine has one of the kindest hearts in the county.

IN NEED OF A HOME

Here’s the problem, Albrecht told Patch… Harvey needs a home.

According to FernDog, athletic, social dog was discovered at a city animal shelter at just six months old after being picked up as a stray. He briefly found a respite from shelter life when a foster couple took him in, but has been living in a doggie daycare boarding facility since July.

In that time, Harvey has lost weight and become “really stressed out,” the rescue states.

For more information about Harvey or to apply for adoption, click here.

Photo: FernDog Rescue

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