When photographer Wesley White, from Montana, was on a work trip to Belize, he made use of his free time to kayak from his resort in Thatch Caye to a tiny abandoned island to fish on Dec. 2, 2018. However, the fishing trip turned out to be unexpectedly adventurous after he stumbled upon a creature that changed his life forever.
Upon arriving at the small deserted island, White stopped for a moment near some mangroves to get some shade, ready for a panic. As he was admiring the ocean view, he looked over his shoulder and noticed a living thing wagging his tail out of the corner of his eye.
White saw an extremely skinny and emaciated dog crossing the boards by himself around an abandoned fishing shack. Obviously, the stray puppy was near death—his ribs were clearly visible. Seeing how frail the canine was, White couldn’t help but feel sad.
White got the puppy into the kayak, and together, they made their way back to Thatch Caye. “This poor guy has a long road of recovery ahead of him. He will need blood tests from a private vet in Belize,” he said.
“Bringing this dog back, I really had no idea if this was going to work out like my heart wanted it to,” he added. “At the best, I was like, ‘we’ll get him home.’ He’ll end up back in Montana with us.”
Once back to the resort in Thatch Caye, White gave the hungry dog, named Winston, a much-needed meal. “Right now, he is napping after getting some food to fill his little belly. He’s a sweet boy and is very happy to not be alone. He is covered in salt sores from the water and is missing most of his fur, but his tail wags nonetheless,” he recalled.
White then caught a boat ride back to the main island of Belize so as to transport Winston to Stann Creek Animal Hospital near Dangriga. The vet examined Winston and found that the skinny puppy was infested with mites, emaciated, and dehydrated. Luckily, despite all that, his organs were still healthy.
As Winston’s recovery journey would likely “be a sizable bill,” White reached out to dog lovers on GoFundMe for donations. “We are grateful for any help anyone can provide and will keep updating his progress as we push through with this tough little guy,” he said.
Sadly, White had no choice but to part with Winston. He flew back to Montana the following morning, leaving the dog behind. “It was like giving up my little puppy all of a sudden,” White said.
Though White was back in Montana, he couldn’t keep his mind off Winston. He kept in touch with Winston’s foster mom, following the puppy’s recovery process. He watched the once-frail puppy grow into a healthy “floppy-eared dog.”
And finally, one day at the end of January 2019, they received the vet’s approval for Winston to fly to Dallas, Texas.
White traveled all the way from Montana to Dallas to pick up Winston. “Is he even going to remember me?” he thought.
However, his concern was unfounded. “Well it takes him just a few moments of sniffing my feet and sniffing my pants, and I think that whatever had implanted on his brain as far as memory just came to,” he said.
Winston wasn’t the scrawny, emaciated puppy he used to be in the past. The dog arrived bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at the airport. He gained a healthier weight and looked all ready to start a new life with White in snowy Montana.
