Orphaned stray puppy becomes postal worker for a day
An orphaned stray puppy named Priority was just 7 weeks old when a postal worker stumbled upon him. The heeler mix was lying in the middle of a gravel road all alone on a reservation in South Dakota. With record-high temperatures and no water, food or family in sight, the puppy didn’t have much time.
The mail carrier couldn’t tell what the tiny lump in the road was until she’d pulled up next to him, and immediately picked him up.
She placed the puppy in one of her priority boxes, which eventually inspired his name, and put him next to her in the mail truck.
“He showed his appreciation by helping her finish delivering the mail,” Azure Davis, director of Ruff Start Rescue, told once. After they finished the mail route, the postal worker took Priority to the vet.
Luckily, the vet team found no serious illnesses or injuries on Priority. However, he had dangerous dehydration. They believe that the kind mail carrier found Priority just in time because of the heatwave.
“He probably would not have made it if she had not stopped to pick him up,” Davis said.
When Priority was healthy enough to leave the clinic, a local shelter contacted Ruff Start Rescue about the sweet pup and asked if they could take him in.
Ruff Start happily agreed and welcomed Priority into their shelter in early August. Less than three days later, his first adoption application came in.
Orphaned stray puppy Davis did not feel surprised at all. “I mean, look how cute he is,” she said.
On top of having a unique backstory, Priority has an adorably unique feature to match — his oversized, pointy ears.
“His ears are undecided,” Davis said. “They can’t decide if they’re going to stay up or down.”
The only thing larger than Priority’s ears, though, is his personality. “He’s a much bigger dog in a small body,” his current foster mom told us.
According to his foster mom, who’s taking care of Priority while he waits to meet his forever family, the young puppy has blossomed in the few weeks since his rescue.
“He’s a very friendly and confident pup,” his foster mom said. “And so grateful to the mail carrier who [rescued] him.”
