Andrea Deoudes was scrolling through Facebook late one night when she stumbled upon photos of Connie, a fluffy brown dog trapped inside a shipping container at the Port of Houston. Determined to help, Deoudes, the founder of Maryland-based Forever Changed Animal Rescue, sprang into action.
Connie, affectionately known as “Connie the Container Dog” by U.S. Coast Guard members who rescued her, had endured a harrowing ordeal. Trapped without food or water for at least a week, she captured the hearts of many after her story went viral.
Despite the expected flood of offers to assist Connie, Deoudes and her team at Forever Changed Animal Rescue decided to reach out. Now, Connie has been transported to Virginia, where she is under Deoudes’s care with the hope of finding her a loving home in the D.C. area.
“I thought, ‘What a survivor to make it through all of that,’” said Deoudes, who also works as a veterinarian.
Upon Connie’s arrival at Deoudes’s office, she was met with a warm welcome and treated like a celebrity. However, an initial examination revealed that Connie, hidden beneath her thick fur coat, was malnourished. To everyone’s surprise, an ultrasound revealed that she was pregnant.
“While it seems like a really happy thing, it’s also tough because let’s say she has five puppies — those are five dogs that will be adopted into homes,” Deoudes said. “And there’s already five puppies alive somewhere else that may be euthanized because they’re not going to be get adopted.”
The rescue of Connie was a stroke of luck for the Coast Guard members involved. During a routine inspection, they heard her barking from a container stacked high in the air. Reyes, one of the rescuers, recounted the frantic search for Connie, which ended with her joyful emergence from the container.
“She walked out on her own immediately,” Reyes said. “She was very, very happy to see all of us.”
The circumstances leading to Connie’s confinement remain unclear. According to Coast Guard spokeswoman Chief Petty Officer Corinne Zilnicki, she may have been accidentally loaded into the container while living in a nearby junkyard.
After being treated for heartworm at the Pasadena Animal Shelter in Texas, Connie was flown to Virginia to join Deoudes and her team. Now, Forever Changed Animal Rescue will provide Connie with the care she needs until she gives birth to her litter. The dogs will then be put up for adoption in the DMV area, pending any major health concerns.
“We know we will find her an amazing home,” Deoudes said. “It’s going to be tough because we’re going to receive a million applications.”
