(As originally published on Dec. 24, 2017)
A Great Dane that survived a fatal truck crash the day before Thanksgiving was rescued early Christmas Eve, injured but somehow still alive.
Now an effort is underway to raise money for Blue Bell's recovery so that her family, which lost two family members and another Great Dane in the Nov. 22 crash on Interstate 49 in Natchitoches Parish, doesn't have to worry about the costs.
The family sought the public's help in finding Blue Bell days after the fiery crash that killed Betty B. Siders and Sheri Lynn Frisby. Weeks went by, and weather conditions changed drastically — from warm temperatures to snow and back — but there were few sightings.
Then, on Saturday, a sighting set off a coordinated effort between a Bullard, Texas-based rescue group, volunteers and the Natchitoches Parish Sheriff's Office that brought the dog, now weighing a mere 73 pounds, to Crossroads Animal Emergency Clinic in Alexandria in the wee hours Sunday.
As told by Carey Carruth Hamblin, Natchitoches resident Damion Spillman thought he saw the 2-year-old dog Saturday afternoon. He posted it to Facebook, and the ball started rolling. Paul Cormane Jr., another Natchitoches resident, shot video to confirm it was Blue Bell.
Hamblin, who owns six Great Danes, tagged Amy Rainoshek, the founder and president of the rescue group Save Rocky the Great Dane Rescue and Rehab. A volunteer admin in Michigan, Dawn Hussey, contacted a Kinder woman, Erin Richard, who drove to the abandoned house on Bayou Derbonne Road where the dog had taken refuge.
Hamblin was astonished because she said the area near Cloutierville is known to be frequented by feral hogs, coyotes and more predators.
“We’ve been looking for her all this time, and she’s right here," she said later Sunday morning.
All possible exits from under the house were blocked. A deputy was on hand as Richard and Cormane crawled under the house, the ground littered with debris. Richard approached Blue Bell and, within 15 minutes, had a leash on the dog's collar.
“She’s just a gorgeous dog," said Hamblin. "She never growled after that point.”
But the dog still wasn't secure. She had lost so much weight during her ordeal that the collar easily could have slipped off her head. Another volunteer, Karen Ford, had brought some chicken, and Richard was able to coax the dog out from under the house in about 45 minutes.
The rescuers had been exchanging messages that Hamblin, on her way back home from a Bossier shopping trip, had been following. The messages stopped, but then came word that Blue Bell was in safe hands after 32 days.
She was rushed to the Alexandria emergency hospital for treatment. She was dehydrated, malnourished and had an injury to her right rear leg.
Hamblin took Richard, covered with mud, to the nearby International House of Pancakes for a meal after they left the dog in the care of the Crossroads staff.
Blue Bell's family was out of state when she was found. The family did speak with the hospital to make financial arrangements, but a fundraiser already is underway. Hamblin said the family has lost so much that they don't need to worry about paying for Blue Bell's recovery.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the effort already had raised more than $1,500 of its $5,000 goal. The fundraiser is in the hands of the rescue group, which is a 501(c) nonprofit organization that's dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and re-homing of Great Danes, mixes and other breeds.
All money will go to the dog's treatment, said Hamblin. Any money remaining likely will go to the family, she said.
The family told The Town Talk that it thanks everyone who helped find Blue Bell and those who kept in contact with them. "God bless," read a text message.
She already has been transferred to the care of another veterinarian. On Monday, Rainoshek reported that Blue Bell was "eating like a champ."
Hamblin said Blue Bell looked "so tired and so weak" after her rescue, but she was able to walk.
“It is really hard to break the spirit of a Great Dane.”
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