A teacher has shared the inspiring story of how she rescued a stray dog which had been shot after she discovered it on her patio in the middle of the night thanks to its glistening eyes. Brooklyn Henderson, 35, from Bossier Parish, Louisiana, was heading out to her car in total darkness, when she heard a rustling in the ferns at the back of her patio. Used to seeing wild animals around her home, she decided to take out her cellphone to record what she expected to be a raccoon. Out of the darkness, she first saw two glistening eyes appear, as a black dog tentatively approached. A dog's eyes glow in the dark due to a reflective layer in the back of the eye called the tapetum lucidum. This layer reflects light back onto the retina, which helps dogs see better in low light.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00I just saw these eyes and I was like, oh, here we go.
00:02Brooklyn is used to seeing wild animals around her home,
00:06but one night, a mysterious pair of glowing eyes
00:10had her fearing the worst.
00:12I was like, oh my gosh, let me take my phone out
00:14in case I have to go to the hospital later
00:17and let the hospital staff know what bit me.
00:19And then she comes out from under my little table.
00:22Is that a dog?
00:24Is that a puppy?
00:26Brooklyn couldn't believe it really was a dog.
00:30She came straight up to me and she kind of knocked me off
00:33of my feet a little bit and I sat down
00:35and she crawled right into my lap
00:37and just wanted me to hold her.
00:41Oh my goodness, where did you come from?
00:47The dog was covered in dirt and fleas
00:50and looked underweight too.
00:52So Brooklyn took it in and fed it
00:54before looking for its owners.
00:56I figured that she probably belonged to someone
00:59that lived near me and so I immediately was just like,
01:03you know what, I'm not gonna bring her inside.
01:05When I went to work, she would stay outside.
01:07When we went to sleep, she would stay outside
01:08because I'm just thinking like,
01:10she's gonna wander back home at some point.
01:12And then like probably two, three weeks roll by
01:15and she's still outside and she's greeting me
01:17at my car every day.
01:18And she spent weeks asking around
01:21and posting on social media to see if anyone knew
01:23who the dog might belong to.
01:25I tried that avenue, I knocked on a couple of doors,
01:28like people that live near me and I was like,
01:31hey, do you know who this dog belongs to?
01:33But when no one came forward,
01:35she knew she had to take care of the sweet pup.
01:39And Brooklyn was heartbroken when she discovered
01:42why the dog might've been so shy.
01:44I was just kind of like rubbing,
01:46just sort of like on her chest
01:47and I felt like this little like scab
01:49and so I just kind of moved her hair out of the way
01:51and I just saw like this little bump
01:54and I was like, what is that?
01:55I just kind of picked at it and I pulled it.
01:57I was just holding this little metal BB in my hand
01:59that had come out of her chest.
02:01Somebody shot at this dog.
02:03It kind of made me mad
02:04because I was just like, who would do that?
02:06Who would shoot at a sweet little precious angel like this?
02:10And so I was like, okay, no, I'm your mama now.
02:12I'm your mama now.
02:13She named the dog Birdie
02:15and introduced her to her 10 year old twins
02:18and her dog Cash who all fell in love with her.
02:22They love going outside and playing with them
02:24and I have a trail right out here outside of my house
02:27and we go and we all go run
02:28and we ride bikes and stuff together
02:30and they just run and play.
02:32Like they've so taken to her.
02:34I wasn't expecting to find Birdie.
02:36Like she was completely like complete surprise to me.
02:40So I'm just gonna take it day by day
02:42and it's just gonna be a beautiful, wonderful life
02:45that I get to live and I get to be a part of.
02:47So wherever this journey takes us,
02:50man, I mean, I'm up for anything.