Woman Rescues Dog Mid-Way Through Euthanasia Process: 'Purpose In Life'

The owner of an animal sanctuary has revealed the incredible story of how she managed to save an unwanted puppy from euthanasia, after she was already mid-way through the process.

As the owner of Erin Regan Animal Sanctuary, based in Picayune, Mississippi, Tracy Bulino has rescued countless animals in the past. While each animal has its own rescue story, the tale behind Nikki the hound dog being rescued in June 2023 is extraordinary.

"In Nikki's case, the shelter staff had given her the acetylpromazine and she was in her crate for the sedative to take effect," Bulino told Newsweek. "In the meantime, one of the shelter employees I had been communicating with the previous week called me and asked if I could take her, because if not they were going to euthanize her.

"At that point, the woman I spoke to didn't know anything about the dog, not even gender or weight. She was just trying to get her out of there. When I stated that I would come get her, they held her for me and did not finish with the final injection. I had to carry her out of the shelter to my car because she kept falling over and couldn't walk from the acetylpromazine."

Bulino explained that many shelters perform euthanasia in a two-step process, starting by giving the animal a sedative, called acetylpromazine. Once this has kicked in, they will then be injected with pentobarbital to stop their heart.

Thankfully, Bulino rescued Nikki, who is thought to be around 10 months old, before the second drug was injected.

"Our local shelters currently require appointments to surrender pets, but when Nikki was dropped off, that person did not have an appointment. They don't know for sure if he was her owner. They told him if he left her, they would have to euthanize her because they didn't have space.

"They suggested he hold her or try to rehome her, but he left her there, knowing that would be the outcome."

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) highlights that approximately 6.3 million companion animals enter U.S. shelters each year. It's thought that around 3.1 million of those animals are dogs, and 3.2 million are cats.

Thankfully for the many animals that wind up in shelters, the ASPCA says that 4.1 million of them get adopted per year, but sadly that isn't the fate for all of them. The devastating figures also reveal that 920,000 shelter animals are euthanized every year as well, 390,000 of which are dogs and 530,000 cats.

Setting up the Erin Regan Animal Sanctuary has been hugely rewarding and eye-opening for Bulino and her husband who she co-founded it with in 2019.

Bulino continued: "It's named after our dog Eire, our first dog who died of heart failure in January 2019, just a few months before we began our mission, and our baby Regan, who we lost at 13 weeks pregnant. I was never able to have children, so I feel that the rescue is my purpose in life.

"We currently have approximately 82 animals on the sanctuary. The farm animals in most cases live here for life. We have a feral barn cat colony, three feral dogs that may never be adoptable, and a few lifers that live in the home as personal pets. We also have a handful of dogs in foster, but the goal for dogs is get them healthy, provide initial training, and get them adopted."

Nikki, who was given that name as they rescued her in the nick of time, will hopefully be available for adoption in a few weeks, after being spayed.

"She would sleep, wake up and try to walk around a bit, fall over and nap some more, repeat," Bulino said, describing Nikki's behavior after being rescued. "She slept it off through the night and was spunky and playful the next morning."

On June 21, Bulino shared the video of Nikki asleep in the back of the car as she took her home after saving her life. She explained the story behind Nikki's rescue, as well as that of Floyd, who "was going to be euthanized because of dermatitis from a flea allergy."

Both dogs are now doing incredibly well on the sanctuary, and Bulino has been amazed by the outpouring of support she has received online. The video of Nikki being brought home has already amassed over 711,000 views and more than 74,000 likes on TikTok.

The video has received over 5,400 comments already, with many TikTokers praising Bulino and her husband for caring for so many unwanted animals.

One comment on the viral post reads: "What is wrong with people today? Thank you for saving them."

Another person wrote: "It hurts that there are heartless people. Thank you for having a big heart."

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