Puppies find homes for Christmas

A litter of puppies rescued by a trio of burly firefighters and a soft-hearted veterinarian will all be with families on Christmas Day.

Eight out of nine Labrador/akita mix pups found suffering from malnutrition have been adopted from the Carson City Animal Shelter.

The ninth, a fuzzy black pup named Dexter, spotlighted the litter's plight when he was found near death Dec. 14 by firefighters who were mistakenly called out on a choking baby call. Although there was no baby in distress, that didn't stop Carson City Firefighters Dave Parker and Bob Stanford, and Capt. Bob Schreihans from trying to help the tiny, rotund canine struggling to breathe. Eventually they enlisted the help of Veterinarian Lesli Hewitt. Dexter, along with one other pup, was diagnosed with an infection that was causing his airway to be constricted.

Hewitt performed surgery to clear the airways and put the remainder of the litter on antibiotics.

She had been fostering Dexter since he was discovered. He was the last puppy free for adoption, but on the eve of Christmas Eve, Hewitt's co-worker Andrea Mundt agreed to make Dexter hers. "I'm so excited, I'm going to be his doctor," Hewitt said happily. "And I really want to thank everyone for being so interested. All these puppies will have homes for Christmas."