Washington Family Believed Puppy Died After Accident, Finds Him Alive (VIDEO)

Reta and Paul McKinlay weren't quite sure how to break the news to their grandchildren. Their 8-month-old Yorkshire Terrier-Shih Tzu mix, Scamp, had escaped from their yard in Yelm, Wash. and was hit by a car.

Assuming Scamp was dead and waiting until morning to bury the furry friend, McKinlay wrapped him in a blanket and put him under a wheelbarrow to keep animals away from his body overnight, KOMO news reports. The pair told their tearful grandchildren, Kaiden and Chevelle, that Scamp had gone to heaven.

"It was real sad to watch them crying over their dog and drawing pictures. We were trying not to cry," Reta told KOMO news.

But when Paul went to retrieve the dog the next morning for his burial, there was a surprise waiting for him.

The dog was sitting up, breathing, and very much alive.

After $3,000 of veterinarian bills from Olympia Pet Emergency, Rita McKinlay told The Olympian she felt confident enough of the dog's good health to tell her grandchildren that their puppy would live.

For Reta, the experience spoke to the meaning of Christmas:

"Christmas is about the kids. It's about miracles, it's about hope, it's about family being together. Scamp is part of our family," she told KOMO news.

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Comments

[Passerineblue]

02:53 PM on 12/18/2011

Not enough details here to figure out why these people thought their dog was dead. I think I would have at least brought the dog to the vet if the dog was still warm.

At least we know they aren't tightwads when it comes to spending money to save their pets. They're lucky to get off with a $3K bill. Too bad the article doesn't say what happened to the dog. Narcolepsy????

3 years ago I spent $8K on my cat, who started out with a simple bladder infection and ended up with his you know what amputated, blood transfusions, cardiology consults, weeks of feeding him mush through a tube in his throat. He's still here though, so I don't begrudge the cost. I am lucky I have the money to save his life.

Vet costs vary so much from place to place. I live in DC where they are unbelievable. Same cat got constipated 3 months ago and it was $467 to unplug him. He's now on special cat food which has solved the problem, thank God. He's 16 which is pretty old for a cat but he's led a pampered life and lives indoors which makes a huge difference when it comes to cat life span.

[momonguam]

08:04 PM on 12/17/2011

CNN - what's up with the sexy vodka ad that played before this heartwarming family story? Could someone get a handle on that please?

[Kerry Cook]

05:38 PM on 12/17/2011

Yay! Another animal Christmas miracle. Keep 'em coming, we can't get enough good stories when it comes to animals.

[gfgarv]

07:10 PM on 12/16/2011

That is one lucky dog. Not everyone has $3,000 to spend on vet bills (especially these days) and many who do have it still wouldn't spend it on a dog. I would give my dog my kidney if I had to.

[Copernicus TheWinner]

02:40 AM on 12/18/2011

It is always nice that there are pet owners like you. I would do anything for my cats as well

[308Win]

06:55 PM on 12/16/2011

That's a big vet bill

[nanaofmysky]

06:42 PM on 12/16/2011

I'm glad the little pup is okay. $3,000 for the vet seems steep. What did he\she do? If it was exrays,blood work and anything else possible then ya reasonabe. Good thing he waited for the next day. my weird humour showing First thing that came to mind was the song "The cat came back the very next day"SORRY LOL LOL

[neuticles]

06:11 PM on 12/16/2011

$3000 in "pet emergency" charges? Sounds like
that vet took that family to the cleaners and back.

[mrsbailey]

06:43 PM on 12/16/2011

Unfortunately sounds about standard for an emergency facility .. the dog got hit by a car, I'm sure they did xrays, ran bloodwork, almost every test you can possibly imagine... sounds about right whether you agree or not

[neuticles]

01:04 PM on 12/17/2011

well- if the puppy was up and about and seemed fine the excessive testing wasnt needed. the fact that the dog was perfectly fine illunstrates that. emergency clinics are famous for playing on th emotions of the pet owner and therefore charging incredible fee's.

[308Win]

06:51 PM on 12/16/2011

i agree

[buminthesun421]

06:03 PM on 12/16/2011

In 1980, our German shepherd had to be put down due to health problems. The vet came to the house to do the procedure, and after the dog went out my father wrapped the dog in a blanket to bury him the next day. When we all woke up the next morning, the dog came out of the room and started walking around. I remember my father calling the vets office and using language like I never heard before. We almost buried the dog alive because of the vets mistake.

[thomasskycap]

05:53 PM on 12/16/2011

I disagree with most of the negative comment's. When the result is positive the dog live's and the family is happy,and so am I, maybe the way things happen
was intended to make the miracle happen.

[averagezoe]

05:05 PM on 12/16/2011

These people are obviously demented. Any rational person would have taken this dog to a vet, but they let him suffer outside all night. Morons like this do not deserve to have a pet.

[onnozol]

05:43 PM on 12/16/2011

It is a small creature, 5 kilos at best. It was in shock with its eyes fixed and they could not detect a pulse or respiration. It is frequently hard to detect the vitals of a small dog in shock without a stethoscope. Fixed eyes almost always mean severe brain trauma, dying or dead. They have no medical training. This is why they didn't take him to the vet. He appeared dead. You don't take a dead dog to a vet. You've missed your window.

[mrsbailey]

06:45 PM on 12/16/2011

I'm pretty sure had they thought the dog was still alive they would have taken him to a vet.. obviously they took him and spend $3000 after the fact even though the dog was walking around perfectly fine

[inspector529]

04:42 PM on 12/16/2011

One of my chihuahua's (domino) I have 5 all rescue dogs, just finished reading all the comments here. Her opinion of all the negative commentors are shown in my avitar. Merry Christmas everyone!

[caugrl]

04:08 PM on 12/16/2011

Many people are asking why this guy didn't rush the dog to the vet. He thought it was dead! Economic times are tough, and if you really believe your dog to be dead why on Earth would you take it to the vet and be charged hundreds if not a thousand dollars for the vet to go, "Yep, dead."? I would have placed the dog in the garage for the night (perhaps these people did not have one), but as a person who onced rushed a dog to the emergency vet, I can state for a fact that it is terribly expensive. In my case, I paid almost $400 for the vet to give my dog Benedryl (something that costs $10 over-the-counter). You can tell these people are good because they did the right thing once they realized the dog could be helped.

[averagezoe]

05:06 PM on 12/16/2011

You are a disgusting cretin.

[onnozol]

05:49 PM on 12/16/2011

And you are making assumptions on what you believed to the proper course of action. You are uninformed. Once he's passed, that isn't your dog any more. It is what he left behind. Leaving his body outside overnight, protected from predators, is the proper course of action when it is below freezing and the ground is too frozen to dig. The freezing temp also halts the decay process. What they did was fine.

[onnozol]

12:26 AM on 12/17/2011

You aren't thinking logically. They spent 3K on the dog and he isn't done with his vet expenses. People who are trying to avoid a bill don't spend that money on a dog. I know, I am a nurse at an animal ER. You seem to think they grabbed the dog, looked at it for a second, decided it had passed, and put it outside. That is illogical. They probably thought he had passed, checked, no vitals /fixed pupils, checked again. Sat there whilst they cried then decided what to do, and put the dog under the wheelbarrow. Think about it: no hint of vitals for twenty minutes. Fixed eyes, which indicate the dog is dead if you add no vitals. When you take a deceased dog to the vet, they say he's deceased and send you home. In the situation, what they did was perfectly w/n normal limits.

You do not need to preach to me. I spend my life taking care of animals. My education, my career and my free time. But you do need to consider circumstance and not assume someone is a neglectful owner because you heard a snippet of a news story. If the same would have happened to me in the circumstance, the only thing I would have done different was checked with a stethoscope and would've been able to discern if he was alive. Calling people names because you don't understand doesn't make you right or righteous. It makes you self righteous.

[onnozol]

05:46 PM on 12/16/2011

The dosage for benadryl is 1 mg/lb of body weight. Next time it occurs, unless the symptoms are different, buy it at the drugstore and give it to him.

[mrsbailey]

06:47 PM on 12/16/2011

Unless the dog is having an allergic reaction, in which case, yes they need to see the vet ASAP

[caugrl]

05:06 AM on 12/17/2011

Thank you for the info. That would have been alot cheaper. My vet did the follow-up after the dog had been stung by a bee (and went into an allergic shock) and that vet told me to just give the dog the human benedyl if it ever happens again. Luckily, it has not happened again. BTW- cute dog pic on your title (or whatever Huff-Post calls it).

[shellsangels]

04:00 PM on 12/16/2011

They need to re-name him Lazarus.

[vieragam]

03:55 PM on 12/16/2011

That is truly a Christmas miracle. I am so happy for the family...and Scamp.

[Vicky AndersonOltmanns]

03:26 PM on 12/16/2011

I am so glad they have their puppy back. If my dog was hit I would die. He is my buddy and I love him like one of the family.