He ran across the busy Iowa highway and grabbed the cat food bag. Guarding his find, he ran home and presented it to his owner. Known for bringing "treasures" home to his owner, the yellow Lab continued to whine incessantly until she opened the bag. What she found inside was both shocking and sad.
To her horror, she found two tiny three-week-old kittens along with the remains of their two other littermates. "It was not a pretty sight," said Linda Blakely from Iowa's Raccoon Valley Animal Sanctuary. The kittens had been sealed in a Meow Mix bag, were intentionally left on highway and had been run over, leaving only two kittens alive. Before the bag could be trounced again, Reagan had bound across the highway and picked up the bag. "The instinct of the dog was to nurture and not kill the kittens. Reagan the dog is a hero," says Blakely.
The two tiny kittens were scared and barely hanging on to life. Reagan's owner reached in the bag and began to care for the little survivors. She bathed and fed them and continued with the constant care throughout the night. She contacted the Animal Sanctuary where a foster mom who was experienced in neo-natal kitten care took them in.
The kittens, named Skipper and Tipper, were not originally expected to live through the ordeal, but, thanks to Reagan, are now well enough to be adopted. Blakely says that the shelter has received more than 50 applications from all over the country for the two little survivors. "We don't do first-come, first-serve. We do best qualified." She says that they are looking for an owner that will take the two siblings together.
Blakely knows that the two kittens would not have survived without the help of Reagan and his owner, who she believes are both heroes. She says that the shelter appreciates the outpouring of love for the two kittens, but people should also extend those feelings to other animals in need of homes. "Skipper and Tipper have definitely touched the world's hearts and they do need homes, but there are Skipper and Tipper situations in every shelter across the country," Blakely said. "Keep that soft spot in your heart and go to your local shelter."