Trunks survived a car crash and spent three days missing before being rescued.
Hidden in a thick web of scrub, with his world turned upside down, the scared puppy’s future was uncertain.
But after three days of hiding, he heard someone yelling his name and had enough energy to make himself known enough to be heard.
Six-month-old grey and white coloured American Staffordshire Trunks had been part of a three-vehicle crash where three people were taken to hospital in serious condition.
The early evening accident was at the northern end of the Transmission Gully motorway near Paekākāriki.
The beloved puppy somehow escaped the wreckage of his owner’s car and left the mayhem.
Trunks was found because of the dedicated efforts of the Missing K9 Response Wellington NZ charity and quick-acting volunteers.
Charity founder Rachel Lyon didn’t learn about the lost puppy until the morning after the crash.
She also found out that Trunks had ventured onto the motorway’s northbound lane on the same morning, a bit further north of where the crash had happened.
“A lady saw him and swerved her vehicle, luckily missed him, but ended up in an accident with another vehicle.”
Lyon, from Upper Hutt, drove to the area, parked in a safe area, and pledged to search for Trunks “until I found him”.
She was also aware that Trunk’s owner was in Wellington Hospital badly injured.
“I couldn’t think of anything worse than waking up in hospital, in a terrible state, and not knowing where your dog was.”
Lyon, who has been successful in finding dogs from car crashes around New Zealand, started her search at Trunks’ last known position.
“I did 48 hours of searching with no sleep.”
She continued, after some rest, before a glimmer of hope when she heard a whining noise.
“It was such a relief to hear him.”
The noise was coming from a steep blackberry-covered bank but Lyon could not climb it.
With her smartphone power at 18%, Lyon had to act quickly, so she did a live post on the group’s Facebook page asking for help, as the battery drained.
“Some members of the community turned up just in the nick of time.”
After about 20 minutes of cutting through foliage Trunks was found, pulled out, and brought to safety.
“I can’t thank those who helped enough. It was a very selfless thing to do. It was a team effort.
“I was able to charge up my phone and call Wellington Hospital who passed the message to Trunks’ owner that he had been found and was okay. The owner rang me and was very happy.”
Trunks had some road rash on his back feet, was covered in scratches, and was thirsty from dehydration.
He was put in Lyon’s car which was parked in nearby Whareroa Farm.
“It was quite weird because as we drove past the first crash site he looked out the window in a forlorn way and made a whimper.”
He was taken to a vet and given fluids and antibiotics before being taken into Helping You Help Animals (Huha) care.
Lyon has video-called Trunks’ owner who was delighted to see his puppy.
The owner is in Christchurch, where he is undergoing rehabilitation for an injured leg, and will be reunited with Trunks when he is well enough.
In the meantime, Trunks is being well looked after by Huha, and getting regular visits from Lyon.
“He’s a velcro dog who loves lots of cuddles. He oozes love to whoever he meets. You can tell he’s well loved and looked after.”
She said all the efforts had the single objective of getting Trunks home.
“That’s the best possible outcome.”