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Heads up from: http://freddiesblog.blogspot.com/2005/10/ruff-ruff-ruff-ruff_18.html

Source: The Seattle Times: Living: Got room for one more?

Got room for one more?

By Dean Rutz
Seattle Times staff photographer

For about as long as she can remember, Debby Cantlon says, friends and strangers have brought her animals in need: injured crows and blue herons, sick raccoons, all manner of critters needing nursing back to health.

So it wasn’t much of a surprise when someone Cantlon did not know called Sept. 6 to ask if she’d care for a newborn squirrel found at the base of a tree somewhere near Renton.

Cantlon, who lives with her husband, Maqsood Ahmed, in View Ridge, said the squirrel was probably no more than one week old; it had yet to open its eyes. The caller had found it near what he thought was its mother, dead, most likely from poisoning.

“Ninety-five percent of those animals that come to me, come to me battered and beaten and bruised,” Cantlon says, “nearly dead because people are so careless.”

So Cantlon took in the tiny creature and began caring for him. But this time, she found herself with an unlikely nurse’s aide: her pregnant Papillon, Mademoiselle Giselle, who actively encouraged the orphan to join her own litter, born Sept. 9.

For Cantlon, who has cancer, helping wounded animals is a healing activity. And in that spirit, she says, came the name she bestowed on the young squirrel, Finnegan: “As in, ‘Finnegan, begin again.’ ”

Dean Rutz: drutz@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2005 The Seattle Times Company

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Photo gallery: Finnegan finds a family
DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Finnegan was resting in a nest in a cage just days before Giselle was due to deliver her puppies. Cantlon and her husband watched as the dog dragged the squirrel’s cage — twice — to her own bedside before she gave birth. Cantlon was concerned, yet ultimately decided to allow the squirrel out — and the inter-species bonding began.

coverpic
DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Finnegan was resting in a nest in a cage just days before Giselle was due to deliver her puppies. Cantlon and her husband watched as the dog dragged the squirrel’s cage — twice — to her own bedside before she gave birth. Cantlon was concerned, yet ultimately decided to allow the squirrel out — and the inter-species bonding began.

For about as long as she can remember, Debby Cantlon says, friends and strangers have brought her animals in need. So it wasn’t much of a surprise when someone asked her if she’d care for a newborn squirrel found at the base of a tree somewhere near Renton.

Debby Cantlon, who plans to release Finnegan, the young squirrel, back into the wild, bottle-fed the infant squirrel after it was brought to her house. Cantlon, who has cancer, says rescuing injured animals is therapeutic for her.

When Cantlon took in the tiny creature and began caring for him, she found herself with an unlikely nurse’s aide: her pregnant Papillon, Mademoiselle Giselle.

Finnegan was resting in a nest in a cage just days before Giselle was due to deliver her puppies

Cantlon and her husband watched as the dog dragged the squirrel’s cage — twice — to her own bedside before she gave birth.

Cantlon was concerned, yet ultimately decided to allow the squirrel out — and the inter-species bonding began.

Finnegan rides a puppy mosh pit of sorts, burrowing in for warmth after feeding, and eventually working his way beneath his new litter mates.

Two days after giving birth, mama dog Giselle allowed Finnegan to nurse; family photos and a videotape show her encouraging him to suckle alongside her litter of five pups.

Now, Finnegan mostly uses a bottle, but still snuggles with his “siblings” in a mosh pit of puppies, rolling atop their bodies and sinking in deeply for a nap.

Finnegan and his new litter mates, five Papillion puppies, get along together as if they were meant to.

Finnegan naps after feeding.

Finnegan makes himself at home with his new litter mates, nuzzling nose-to-nose for a nap after feeding.