ESPAÑOLA, N.M. (KRQE) – A dog is lucky to be alive after a near death experience in Rio Arriba county. Thanks to a good Samaritan’s quick thinking and the fast work of rescue crews, he’s being given a second chance.
The dog, muffin, had a swollen face and neck after getting trapped in a coyote snare last week. “He almost didn’t look like a dog,” said Mattie Allen, the communications director for Espanola Humane
A passerby found the distressed dog somewhere in Rio Arriba county and called animal control for help. The snare was so tight, it was strangling the Doberman mix. It’s unclear how long muffin had been stuck in the trap but getting him out, was no small task. “You could see just how much force was required to cut through that snare with bolt cutters. It took, I think, three or four tries, and you can see him shaking with the force needed to cut through that,” Allen said.
In 2021 lawmakers passed a bill that made traps like these one’s illegal on public land, to avoid incidents like this one. Today, muffin is feeling much better, his rescuers say he got lucky. “He’s physically he’s really pretty much recovered at this point. I think emotionally it’s going to take him a little bit of time to fully recover. But he’s a really resilient little guy who just has a huge heart,” Allen said.
