The Sentient World of Animals

Brave Mother Dog
Swims across the River
to Feed Her Puppies

By a fellow initiate in China (Originally in Chinese)

 
Hua-hua and her lovely puppies.

In mid-July this year, a torrential rainfall struck Chongqing City in Sichuan Province of China, which caused the water of Yangtze River to rise and overflow, resulting in many disasters. However, the catastrophe also accidentally publicized the heroic action of a mother dog that swam across the river to feed her puppies on a small island. This brave dog, which is affectionately called “Hua Hua” (Flower) by the local people, is petite in size with yellow and white stripes on her fur. In early July, she gave birth to four puppies on a coral reef. Unfortunately, the reef soon turned into an isolated island after the heavy storm submerged the road between the mainland and the reef. So, in order to feed her puppies, every night Hua-hua risked being swept away by the turbulent Yangtze River as she swam more than a kilometer out to the coral reef to accompany her puppies throughout the night. The next morning, she would swim back to shore and look for food.

 

The route that Hua-hua takes to swim across the river to feed her puppies.

 

Not only was Hua-hua very brave and loving, she was also very clever. Every day she swam from upstream, riding the current to reach the coral reef. Later she would swim downstream back to the shore along the most energy-conserving route. One day, a group of people who were concerned about Hua-hua and her puppies took a boat to the island to visit them. When they reached the island, they found that the water had risen tremendously, and had immersed the work-shed where the puppies had been taking shelter. Everyone was worried about their safety. Fortunately, they found Hua-hua hiding inside a heap of hollow bricks, with her four plump babies lying peacefully by her side, suckling milk. One of the visitors suddenly recalled having seen Hua-hua swimming back to the island unusually early the day before. Obviously, she had detected that the river was rising, and thus quickly returned to move her puppies to a safer place.
People eagerly feeding Hua-hua.

Through verbal publicity and media coverage, Hua-hua has become a great hero in the hearts of the citizens of Chongqing and to pet lovers nationwide. Many people would take the initiative to feed Hua-hua when they saw her, so that she would have enough nutrition and strength. Some also have expressed their wish to adopt Hua-hua and her puppies, or to take care of them on the island.