Australia is never boring. Recently, Kerry McKinnon from Strathdownie in Western Victoria received a surprised from her golden retriever Asha that’s probably impossible for any other dog owner in the world to get.
You see, temperatures in the area sometimes plummet to 5C (41F) in the early hours. And not every animal has a fur coat as warm as Asha.
“It was quite early in the morning, and my husband yelled out to me to come have a look at something,” Kerry, 45, told News.com.au. “I didn’t know what he was talking about at first, but then I saw this tiny baby koala snuggled on top of Asha.”
Kerry admitted the moment caught her completely off-guard, and she wasn’t exactly supportive of her cute dog’s heroism. “I just burst out laughing. Poor Asha didn’t know what to think; she just kept looking at me with such a confused look,” McKinnon added. “She looked a bit guilty when I came out to see what was going on. Her expression was hilarious.”
“She kept looking back at the koala bear, but she wasn’t trying to get him off her or anything. She was happy to let him snuggle into her.”
It will always remain a mystery how the cute koala ended up attached to Asha. The most plausible explanation is that the adorable creature was separated from its mother since it was still young enough to be living with her. “I think the koala bear baby fell out of his mum’s pouch and didn’t know what to do. He would have just wandered over to our back porch and seen the dogs in their beds, then decided to snuggle in Asha’s fur because it’s nice and warm.”
“Asha definitely saved the koala’s life by keeping him warm. He would have died out there if left alone all night. The poor thing could have been taken by a fox or something too.” Kerry said it “wasn’t easy” separating the two, as the koala put up a “huge fuss” when she tried to remove it from Asha’s back.
The woman said the little joey is all well, though. After being checked out by a vet, a local koala carer took the baby under their care until it can be released back into the wild. “I think dogs have that protective instinct. The koala didn’t want to leave Asha’s back. When we took the koala off to wrap it in a blanket, it hissed at me and carried on.”
“I think it would have been happy to have just slept there all day. It was really an amazing animal friendship to see and so uniquely Australian.”
Australia is never dull, even for dog owners
Image credits: Kerry McKinnon / Caters News
“It was quite early in the morning, and my husband yelled out to me to come have a look at something”
Image credits: Kerry McKinnon / Caters News
“I didn’t know what he was talking about at first, but then I saw this tiny koala snuggled on top of Asha”
Image credits: Kerry McKinnon / Caters News
“I think the baby koala fell out of his mum’s pouch and didn’t know what to do”
Image credits: Kerry McKinnon / Caters News
“He would have died out there if left alone all night. The poor thing could have been taken by a fox or something, too”
Image credits: Kerry McKinnon / Caters News
After being checked out by a vet, a local koala carer is watching over the baby until it can be released back into the wild
Image credits: Kerry McKinnon / Caters News
People instantly declared Asha a hero
Look at the koala's smooshy little face! Just look at him!!
cute
I'm looking!
anyone else remember the Looney Tunes cartoon with the bulldog and the kitten?
"Feed the Kitty." One of the greatest Looney Tunes shorts created. One of the few shorts I know of that is hilarious, sweet, and moving in only 7 minutes of storytelling.
Ah, so true all of you was one of my favorites & just watched a few again thanks to all of you for reminding me of the great memories. My husband recently brought home a homeless street tuxedo kitten that always hung around his favorite breakfast restaurant. Named her Bela Lugosi, call her little Lugosi & just a loving & sweet as Pussyfoot (my husband must be her Marc Anthony! Tee-hee-hee!
Mark Antony and Pussyfoot!!
Ha! So that's why I wanted to name a bulldog Marc Antony- it was subconscious all along! :)
Mark Antony! That's right!!! Now I have to find a kitty cookie cutter....makes me cry _every_ GD time!
I love that toon!!!!
Yes I do. And when the kitten wanted to settle down on the back of the dog it would do its claw thing as the bull dog makes all kinds of faces waiting for it to stop.
Mel Blanc
Disney did an homage scene in Monsters Inc. to Mark Antony - it was when Sully thought Boo was in the trash compactor (or something equally deadly).
Asha wins Intergalactic Best Doggo Ever. Because I said so.
Good enough reason for me! Wonderful creatures dogs!! Koala's are so flipping cute too!
Look at the koala's smooshy little face! Just look at him!!
cute
I'm looking!
anyone else remember the Looney Tunes cartoon with the bulldog and the kitten?
"Feed the Kitty." One of the greatest Looney Tunes shorts created. One of the few shorts I know of that is hilarious, sweet, and moving in only 7 minutes of storytelling.
Ah, so true all of you was one of my favorites & just watched a few again thanks to all of you for reminding me of the great memories. My husband recently brought home a homeless street tuxedo kitten that always hung around his favorite breakfast restaurant. Named her Bela Lugosi, call her little Lugosi & just a loving & sweet as Pussyfoot (my husband must be her Marc Anthony! Tee-hee-hee!
Mark Antony and Pussyfoot!!
Ha! So that's why I wanted to name a bulldog Marc Antony- it was subconscious all along! :)
Mark Antony! That's right!!! Now I have to find a kitty cookie cutter....makes me cry _every_ GD time!
I love that toon!!!!
Yes I do. And when the kitten wanted to settle down on the back of the dog it would do its claw thing as the bull dog makes all kinds of faces waiting for it to stop.
Mel Blanc
Disney did an homage scene in Monsters Inc. to Mark Antony - it was when Sully thought Boo was in the trash compactor (or something equally deadly).
Asha wins Intergalactic Best Doggo Ever. Because I said so.
Good enough reason for me! Wonderful creatures dogs!! Koala's are so flipping cute too!