A three-legged dog is being called a hero in Thailand for rescuing a newborn baby after the infant’s 15-year-old mother tried to hide her pregnancy by burying her baby alive.
The dog, named Ping Pong, kept up incessant barking which caught the attention of its owner, who then spotted an infant’s leg sticking up out of the ground.
“I heard a dog barking and a baby crying in a cassava plantation, so I went there to check. The dog was digging up a dirt pile and the baby’s legs emerged,” owner Usa Nisaikha, told the Bangkok Post.
Dog saves baby buried alive in a Thailand field- Samaa Digital https://t.co/cIdgwt2ag9 pic.twitter.com/HvrgMO6nro
— instant.com.pk (@instantsPost) May 18, 2019
The 41-year-old farmer found the baby in time. After rushing the baby to the local hospital, Chum Phuang Hospital, doctors cleaned the 5.2-pound baby up and declared him healthy.
“The baby is recovering and he is healthy,” governor of the Nakhon Ratchasima area, Wichian Chantharanothai, told Daily Mail.
Police said they have arrested the mother and charged her with child abandonment and attempted murder.
Girl attempts to kill her newborn https://t.co/pZyqqPmFyE
— Bangkok Post (@BangkokPostNews) May 17, 2019
Lt. Col. Panuwat Puttakam, of Chum Phuang police station, told the Bangkok Post, that although the girl is underage, the police are still bound by law to charge her. She will be interrogated in the presence of child service workers, he added.
She will also be treated for her mental health.
“The girl is now in the care of a psychologist and her parents because she is in great fear. She regrets what she did and said she acted on impulse without thinking it through. She feared her parents would find out she had been pregnant,” the officer said.
Dog rescues baby buried alive in field in Thailand https://t.co/McqWLGOFKo
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) May 17, 2019
While the girl’s parents have offered to raise the child, authorities have not yet decided whether to allow it or not.
“The parent of the mother have offered to take care of the baby when he leaves hospital but that has not been agreed yet. A team of police and government welfare workers need to consider the safety of the children,” governor Chantharanothai told Daily Mail.
Newborn baby buried alive in a field is saved after ‘hero’ dog finds the infant’s leg poking out of the soil https://t.co/fdwunmnNyO
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) May 17, 2019
“Police officers are preparing to prosecute the mother but she is also a child and we must consider her mind and be professional. It is important that she is nurtured and treated fairly,” governor Chantharanothai, told the Bangkok Post.
Police said they were able to identify the girl after she had bought “an usually large number of sanitary napkins” at the time.
Hero dog saves buried baby in northeastern Thailand https://t.co/dNmsJGy7dt pic.twitter.com/tRZSiQPAXh
— Doordarshan News (@DDNewsLive) May 18, 2019
Meanwhile the dog’s owner said his dog had three legs because of a previous accident with a car.
“I kept him because he’s so loyal and obedient, and always helps me out when I go to the fields to tend to my cattle,” he told Khaosod English. “He’s loved by the entire village. It’s amazing.”
After the story made headlines, three-legged Ping Pong was being called the hero of Korat’s Tha Talat community for helping save the newborn. “Everybody in the village is amazed by what he has done now. He is a hero because he saved the life of the baby,” Nisaika said.