It was another typical day for U.S. Coast Guard Officer Ryan McMahon and his team as they inspected shipping containers at the Port of Houston. He and his team thought they heard barking coming from inside the thousands of shipping containers surrounding them.
One of the inspectors said in a recorded video Wednesday morning as he looked up at the containers, which were stacked about 8 meters in the air.
When we lowered it to the ground using a crane, a very adorable and friendly dog jumped out.
“As soon as I opened it, I saw a little dog’s face pop out. She was right there, like she knew we were there to open it. And She just wasn’t scared. She seemed happier than anything to be out of that dark space and in the arms of people who cared for her,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class McMahon. he told The Associated Press on Friday.
The Coast Guard later determined that the dog, nicknamed Connie the Container Dog, had been trapped indoors without food or water for at least eight days.
She was a little dirty and “definitely quite thin,” McMahon said.
McMahon and three other inspectors drove Connie to an animal shelter in the Houston suburb of Pasadena, where she was examined.
The rescue group Forever Changed Animal Rescue took her into custody and is working to get her healthy and ready for adoption.
Coast Guard officials did not say where the container came from, but it contained junked cars that appeared to have been shipped overseas to be sold for parts.
“So, based on that, they think the dog was most likely at the junkyard or in the car. And that’s how she accidentally ended up in the container,” Guard spokesperson Chief Petty Officer Corinne Zilnicki said.
McMahon said he was thankful he and his team were in the right place and at the right time to hear Connie’s bark and prevent the container from being loaded onto the cargo ship.
They typically conduct inspections once a week throughout the Port of Houston, and on Wednesday they said there was an inspection at the port’s Bayport Container Terminal, where perhaps more than 10,000 containers are stored. he said.
“It would be at least another week before she got to her destination (on board the cargo ship), and without food or water it would be two weeks. I don’t think she made it,” McMahon said.
Forever Changed Animal Rescue thanked “all of the wonderful people involved in this rescue and saved Connie’s life.”
The rescue group said in a Facebook post that Connie was slightly underweight and had tested positive for heartworms, so she would receive treatment.
“We will also perform a thorough examination of her to ensure she receives all the care she needs and deserves,” the group said.
The inspectors had considered adopting Connie, but it wasn’t the time for everyone.
“Even with all this, I know she’s going to a good home where they’ll love her and take care of her,” McMahon said.
