A newborn girl who was abandoned and left for dead under a bridge in Ghana has been saved by a farm dog that spent a night guarding the helpless youngster.
The two-week old baby was found snuggling against the animal in Winkongo, near Bolgatanga in the upper east regional capital of Ghana.
When the unlikely pair were discovered doctors said the little girl was in good health, apart from an infection on her uncut umbilical cord.
A search party had been only looking for the dog which belongs to a local farm and had disappeared earlier that day.
Officials have speculated that the baby may have been discarded by teenage parents although Rosemary Azure, Director of Health for the Talensi-Nabdam District said she couldn’t say what had led to the baby’s desertion by his mother.
Ms Azure said police are investigating the incident and took the opportunity to caution locals against unprotected sex.
Searchers spent most of the night tracking the dog now dubbed the ‘hero hound’ through nearby fields and woods before the spotted it curled around the infant.
The remarkable story was reported by the Ghana News Agency and plans are now in motion to find the baby a new home.
revealed– although it’s not impossible that officials will find themselves presiding over a medal presentation to “Hairy Poppins” sometime soon.
While the tale of the hero dog is not common, local legend reportedly talks about an ancestor being protected by a dog in the same manner.
The story goes that a baby was alone at home when a roof set on fire and the dog which was in the house carried the baby to safety by its mouth.
There are also other stories of hero dogs in Africa.
In Kenya in 2005 a stray dog now known as Mkombozi (Swahili for liberator), who was foraging for food found an abandoned baby in a plastic bag.
Mkombozi carried the baby over busy roads, through a barbed wire fence and into one of the impoverished neighborhoods of Nairobi where she let her settle with her own litter of puppies.
Source: Dailymail
