This Street Cat Will Only Accept Bagged Food For A Heartwarming Reason
Giving stray cats and street animals food is nothing new. We might have a local alleycat that always comes by for scraps or a drink of water, but it's especially strange when you see them starving on the street and still refusing to eat. That's what happened for one shelter volunteer in Korea.
They would offer a cat a bowl of food daily, but she absolutely refused to eat. They didn't understand why a starving cat wouldn't help herself until one volunteer tried something strange.
The Cat Was Starving On Its Own
Karen is a Korean woman who goes out of her way to help feral cats. She volunteers at a local animal shelter and she travels around her city making sure all of the homeless cats in her area have enough food to eat. This woman truly has a heart of gold.
For five years this volunteer would hand out food in bowls to every homeless cat who would accept her offer. Most of the time, the cats would hungrily accept her food. There was one cat, however, who was surprisingly picky.
Dongsuk Wouldn't Take The Kibble
Karen called this picky cat "Dongsuk." Every day, Karen would offer Dongsuk a handful of kibble, and every day, Dongsuk would sare at the kibble and refuse to take it. She would walk away to presumably find food some other way.
Even though Dongsuk didn't take the food, she still walked up to Karen every day. She would sit there, look at the food, and then look at Karen. This wasn't typical behavior. Karen started to think that Dongsuk just didn't like the way the food was being presented. Maybe she didn't like bowls.
Changing Things Up
First, Karen thought that Dongsuk just didn't like dry food. She thought the cat might prefer wet food instead. Sometimes cats can be very picky about their diets.
The next time Karen saw Dongsuk, she brought several kinds of wet foods and dry foods. Dogsuk didn't want any of them. Karen wanted to help the cat, but she didn't know how to. This cat was more than just picky. She was refusing every kind of cat food.
Introducing Bagged Food
Karen really wanted to solve this mystery. She knew she needed to think outside the box. Maybe if Dongsuk didn't want food in a bowl, she would accept food in a bag. Maybe Dongsuk was a shy eater and she didn't want to eat in front of people or other cats.
Karen offered Dongsuk some dry food in a plastic bag, and to her surprise, her plan worked! Dongsuk took the bag of food and ran off with it.
Why Did She Take The Food This Time?
Karen was so happy that she was finally able to feed Dongsuk, but she wanted to know why the plastic bag made such a difference. Why was Dongsuk willing to take the food and run?
Karen was also curious about where Dongsuk was going with her bag of food. Maybe she was looking for a safe place to eat, bug if Karen knew where Dongsuk's safe place was, maybe she could just feed her there.
Why Not A Bowl
Karen had a lot of questions about Dongsuk's behavior. First of all, why would she only eat food from a bag? Surely all of that plastic just gets in the way. Wouldn't it be so much easier to eat out of a bowl? Did Dongsuk really prefer living her life the hard way?
Karen knew there had to be a logical explanation. Eventually, she gave in to her curiosity and hatched a plan to figure out this mystery.
Where Was The Cat Going?
Cats are strange creatures, and sometimes they behave in strange ways. Maybe Dongsuk didn't like other cats watching her eat. Maybe Dongsuk didn't like Karen watching her eat. It didn't make any sense. All of the other street cats ate in front of Karen without hesitation.
Perhaps Dongsuk didn't trust humans and found just enough courage to show up every day for food and scurry off. Of course, that wasn't the case. Karen was about to find out why Dongsuk was really scurrying off with her bag of food.
Finding Out The Truth
Karen decided to band together with a few of the other volunteers in her area to follow Dongsuk back to her hiding place. Karen knew they would have to keep their distance from the kitty. She couldn't know that they were following her. If she caught them, she might run away or find another hiding spot.
Dongsuk trusted these volunteers enough to take food from them now, and they didn't want to break her trust.
A Long Trek Through The City
The team of volunteers stayed far enough behind Dongsuk that she couldn't sense their presence. The little cat took the team of volunteers on a winding hike all throughout the city. Karen was so surprised to learn that Dongsuk had walked this route every day after visiting the volunteers and receiving her food.
After what seemed like forever, Dongsuk arrived at the entryway of an abandoned building. Karen was a little bit nervous to be so far off the beaten path.
The Cat Still Didn't Open The Bag
Sitting outside the building, Dongsuk still hadn't opened the bag. She took the bag (and the team behind her) into the building. She seemed to be looking for something. She looked nervous and the volunteers could tell that she wasn't comfortable in this place.
It's possible Dongsuk didn't want to eat in front of the team. At this point, the cat had to know that the group of people was following her. Maybe Dongsuk was onto them.
Another Cat Appears
Still waiting, Dongsuk began meowing. At this point the team realized she was waiting for something. In a few seconds they found out a what. Out of nowhere a little ginger kitten appeared and ran right up to Dongsuk, who put down the bag of food.
Dongsuk was a mom! Every day she made sure not only to provide for herself but for her young kitten as well. This is why she would only take food wrapped in a bag. It was the only way she could ensure her baby would be fed.
Finally Having A Bite To Eat
The volunteer and her friends continued to watch the selfless acts of this feline mother unfold. After Dongsuk put the bag of food down, she stepped away, letting her daughter eat first. The kitten ripped into the bag and fed til it was full.
Finally, after her daughter was happy, Dongsuk enjoyed her meal. The team was brought to tears as they watched this real life story of heroism and survival unfold right before their eyes. Of course, the story didn't end there.
Rescuing The Cats
Having witnessed everything Dongsuk was willing to go through to make sure her daughter was fed, the volunteer and her team knew they needed to do something as well. First, they checked the neighborhood to see if anyone knew Dongsuk, and had been looking for their lost cat.
No one claimed ownership of the feral cat, confirming she was on her own and had been on her own for a long time. Sadly, there were some people in the neighborhood who were familiar with Dongsuk, and they had a heartbreaking story to share.
The Tragedy In Dongsuk's Past
As the team went around the neighborhood and interviewed people, they learned that Dongsuk had suffered a major tragedy in her past. According to someone they spoke with, the mother cat had originally given birth to five healthy kittens.
Life hadn't been fair to Dongsuk, and as she fought to keep her litter alive, she lost four of them. Now her daughter was her entire world. She had one baby left and was determined, no matter what, to keep her alive and watch her grow up into an adult cat. Now she just needed a happy ending.
Her First Warm Blanket
The team knew they wanted to find a way to rescue Dongsuk and her kitten, but they also knew they needed to form a stronger bond of trust. To do this, they returned to the location Dongsuk led them to and gave her a blanket.
The blanket was the first step in building a trusting relationship between cat and human. It was used to show that these people weren't the enemy. Still, Dongsuk and her daughter weren't going to give away their trust in a day.
Getting Better Every Day
After giving Donhsuk and her daughter the gift of warmth, the team of volunteers returned to the building every day to allow the cats to feel normal around humans. According to one of them, Dongsuk came on board pretty quickly.
Dongsuk's daughter was less willing to make friends with her human saviors. Remember, she was not able to build a previous relationship with them. Dongsuk had used them as a trusted food source, but her daughter had no idea. She just ate the food after it was brought to her.
Her Trust Had To Be Earned
The team was used to needing patience, and knew that with the cats fed everyday they could be patient waiting for Dongsuk's daughter to warm up to them. They knew the cats were fed, they just wanted to make sure were safe.
Eventually, the tiny kitten became comfortable with the humans. Even if she didn't like them very much, she seemed to understand that they were there to help and not hurt her. With the trust of both cats, the volunteers knew that the next step was going to be moving them to a new home.
An Intense Rescue Mission
One of the big reasons the team was willing to take so long to earn the trust of Dongsuk and her daughter was the rescue mission. In order to move these cats to a new home, they needed to use scary tools and nets.
The cats were still feral, so it wouldn't have been safe to pick them up and move them. As much as the volunteers may have wanted too, they still needed to be safe. Looking at the net above, you can imagine what would have happened hadn't they built trust with the animals first.
Her First Cat House
Before Dongsuk and her daughter were adopted, they were taken to a shelter where they were given their own mini house. As you can see, it was way more luxurious than their last home. They even began eating their food and drinking their water out of bowls!
Life was looking up for the cats from the streets. Now she just needed to find a forever home. It was also clear that it was important to keep the two felines together.
Always Sticking By Her Kid
The story of Dongsuk and her daughter is one of the most inspirational rescue stories we've heard. The resilience it took for this cat to put her kitten's welfare ahead of her own is incredibly touching. Especially after having gone through the tragedy the poor thing went through with four other kittens.
This is a story of motherly love and the power of doing good. The volunteer and her team went above and beyond their duties to save the day as well. They set out to feed the cats and ended up giving two cats in need new leases on life.
Better Together
These poor dogs were found sticking together after they were abandoned. For months, the strays had been living in a truck yard after being left to wander the streets outside of Los Angeles.
The pup pair stayed together and set up a home for themselves in a truck yard in Los Angeles. They were fed for months by a kind woman who worked near the truck yard but did not seem to trust anyone but each other, even the team who was organized to rescue them once they were discovered.
Best Friends Forever
These two dogs were totally inseparable. Each of them had been wandering the streets for weeks, picking up scraps of food wherever they could find them. Fortunately, the two crafty dogs found each other and teamed up together, forming a two-dog pack.
Not only did this help them increase their chances of survival on the streets, but it also made the two best friends. They were teamed up against the world looking for a way to survive. As domestic dogs without a home, these poor animals could have easily ended up starving to death.
They Had To Be Tough
While you might think that dogs are totally self-reliant and can take care of themselves if they had to, that is not always the case. Dogs who have been bred to be house pets and who have grown up in a family with caretakers do not have the same survival instincts that dogs in the wild have.
Many of the instincts have been suppressed by centuries of breeding, while others become rusty from living in domesticity. This is why homeless dogs are such a problem; many of them end up starving to death or injured because they simply do not know how to take care of themselves out in the wild.
Finding A Place To Crash
These two dogs had been wandering the streets for weeks before they found their temporary home. The began camping out in a Los Angeles truck yard, next door to a factory. One day, one of the women working there spotted the two strays and decided to help them.
While she was unable to adopt them herself, she made sure that the two dogs were fed. For more than six months, the factory worker brought the dogs food making sure that the pair had enough to eat. For months, she was their angel.
News That Changed Everything
After six months, however, the woman received some news that would change her situation and might mean that the dogs no longer had reliable access to food. The factory worker had to move soon, far enough away that she would no longer be able to feed the dogs she had grown to care for.
She worried about what might happen to them. Would someone else take over feeding them? Would they starve? Would the lack of food mean that they went back to roaming the streets looking for scraps of food in the garbage? She decided something had to be done.
Looking For Help
Worried about the dogs' chances of survival without the regular food that was keeping them going, the woman looked for a place that might be able to help the pair. She did some research before finding a local animal rescue group called Hope for Paws, asking if there was anything the organization might be able to do to help the strays.
Hope for Paws works to help animals in need, making sure that they receive medical attention if necessary. They also help to find these animals happy and safe homes. But would they be able to help these two homeless dogs?
A Rescue Organization Came To The Rescue
One of the founding members of Hope for Paws, Eldad Hagar, said that he would be happy to do what he could to help this dog duo. Hagar went out to the yard where the dogs had been taking shelter to see what course of action would best suit the animals.
Seeing the conditions in which the dogs were living, he knew that there was no way they could continue living on the street. He knew that the best way to help the dogs would be to rescue the animals and help to place them in permanent homes with loving families.
Volunteers From All Over The World
Eldad Hagar's team consisted of volunteers from all over the world who were working with Hope for Paws aiming to make the world a better place for animals. The volunteers came from places as far away as Australia, the United Kingdom, and Costa Rica! The group of volunteers strategized to figure out how to best rescue animals in need.
Many animals who live on the streets become mistrustful of humans, as they’ve been abused or neglected. Having rescued many dogs before, the Hope for Paws team knew that the rescue would not be easy.
Running Away
When the Hope for Paws team went to the truck yard, their suspicions were confirmed. The two dogs had been without human companionship (aside from the woman who had been leaving food out for them) that they were wary of strangers.
It would have been easy if the team could just lure the dogs in with some food, but as soon as the rescuers approached the animals they ran away and hid. Hagar and his team knew that they would have to get crafty to get these dogs away from the truck yard. Together, the team hatched a plan.
Hatching A Plan
The owner of the truck yard was happy to help the team rescue the dogs, and he became a critical part of the plan because the team had to resort to some pretty complicated tricks to get the dogs out of the yard.
First, the team took a plastic barrier and put it in place in the front of the yard so that if the dogs tried to run and hide again, they would be confined to the yard and unable to escape. The owner of the truck yard took the team into the enclosure. The team's plan was to surround the dogs, gradually winning over their trust.
They Weren't Easy To Catch
Eldad Hagar explained the plan to news outlets after the rescue, telling the media about the unique challenges the team faced due to the particular obstacles that the truck yard presented. As the truck yard was rather large and crowded, it was difficult for the team to navigate the area where the dogs had been living.
"Once we secured the area, [we needed] to try and corner the dogs," said Hagar. “The rescue was quite challenging because we always had to watch for our heads as we were under the trucks most of the time.”
One Dog Down, One To Go
Hagar and the team decided to concentrate their efforts on rescuing the male dog first. While the poor animal was terrified by the presence of humans in the truck yard, he showed no signs of aggression. While many animals in that situation may decide to attack their would-be rescuers, the male dog appeared to be docile.
Instead of attacking, he simply evaded the Hope for Paws team. He led them on quite the chase before he was eventually cornered and had a leash placed around his neck by his captors. The dog was still scared, but he allowed the team to approach him.
Making The Next Catch
The poor dog was still scared but began to calm down once he was aware that the Hope for Paws team was not planning on harming him in any way. His captors slowly gained his trust, and after a while he allowed one of the members of the team to pet him!
As he began to settle down and make peace with the situation, the team gradually shifted their attention to the female dog who was still hiding in the truck yard. The female dog was a lot less cooperative than the male dog, especially after she saw that her friend was captured.
He Wouldn't Give Up The Chase
Leaving the male dog's leash clipped to the fence of the truck yard, the Hope for Paws team began their rescue of the female dog. She refused to come out despite the team trying to show that they were not threatening her. She scrambled over boxes and hid underneath trucks, determine to evade the team trying to catch her.
But there was one thing that the female dog risked capture for: her best friend. After she saw him tied to the fence, the female dog ran over to him, trying to make sure that he was okay. The team saw their opportunity and moved in to capture her.
Another Escape
Despite being surrounded, the female dog managed to evade her would-be captors yet again! The pursuit continued for another ten minutes or so, all while the male dog was still chained to the fence. Eventually, the female dog realized that there was no way of escaping.
Growing tired, she finally gave up and let the Hope for Paws team capture her. Just like her best friend, she was terrified at first, but began to calm down after a leash was put on her. After the female dog was leashed, the two best friends were then reunited with each other.
They Were Both Terrified
Both of the dogs were scared of what was happening, but they were still kind and gentle. While other animals in their situation might have lashed out at their captors, this pair did not want to hurt anybody. They were simply afraid of what would happen to them if they were caught by humans.
Eldad Hagar later said, "Both dogs showed zero signs of aggression. They were just so scared, but also relieved. We brought [them closer to each other] so they [could] have a positive experience with all of us. We just sat there for 30 minutes [and] discussed the names they will be."
Names For The Pups
Now that the dogs were finally rescued, the team could focus on helping them feel comfortable in their new lives. One of the first things they did was give them new names. Since the pair consisted of a male dog and a female dog who worked together in the face of obstacles, the Hope for Paws team decided to name their dogs after an iconic superhero partnership: Lois and Clark.
The team sat with Lois and Clark for a while, helping the two animals to calm down and to settle their nerves. After the animals began to adjust to their new situation, Eldad Hagar decided that it was time to transfer them to an animal hospital.
They Were Finally Safe
For the first time in months, the dogs were separated from each other. The two of them rode to the animal hospital in separate vehicles. While each dog had members of the team along on the ride to help keep them comfortable, they were very anxious and did not know what to expect in these new surroundings.
The pair had not been able to rely on anyone but each other for such a long time that they were confused and did not know how to react to their new situation, but that would soon change.
What Kind Of Dog?
After bringing the animals to the veterinarian, it was found that both of the dogs are mixed breeds. The vet also revealed that both of the animals were around two years old. Despite living in such harsh conditions, both Lois and Clark seemed to be in relatively decent shape. Clark is a Staffie-pit bull mix, but Lois is a bit of a mystery.
She is guessed to be some sort of border collie and Australian shepherd mix, but no one is sure! It doesn't really matter though because both animals were found to be affectionate and loving after their rescue, in spite of being a bit shy after everything the two had gone through.
A New Home
While the two dogs are now living indoors and are being cared for, they are still searching for a permanent home. Both of them are young and housebroken, and get along with other dogs and with people. These two dogs have had a rough start in life, but are ready to start a new journey together!
Hopefully, there is someone out there who will adopt both Lois and Clark because after everything these dogs have been through they deserve to stay together. Not only is their tale an uplifting one, but it is also inspiring. If these two dogs can remain best friends in the face of such adversity, then anyone can!
