Man Gets Pulled Into Rice Fields by His Dog, You'll Never Guess What He Found

Illustration - Shutterstock

Christian Eiermann is a German tech entrepreneur living and working in Bali, Indonesia, which has become a hotspot for tourists and expats who enjoy the beautiful beaches, rice fields, and mountains. But, like much of Southeast Asia, Bali has a big problem.

In reports published in the mid to late 2000s, the stray dog population was estimated to be 600,000 to 800,000, and despite subsequent culls to fight the spread of rabies, there remain 150,000–160,000 dogs today, according to a study published in 2018.

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According to the Bali Adoption Rehab Center, an animal welfare charity that runs a multi-species shelter on the island, “dumpings,” in which people drop off unwanted animals in the countryside or at the door of charitable organizations, are all too common.

As BARC describes the problem, “females are the most common to be dumped as they are not considered guard dogs. This in turn leads to them breeding with the un-neutered male dogs, and a new generation of puppies born homeless on the streets.”

Eiermann had already rescued one dog abandoned on the beach and was taking care of it when he had a big surprise. While walking his dog across the iconic rice paddies on the island, he opted not to plug in and listen to a podcast as he usually did while on long walks in the countryside.

Eiermann’s dog, in the meantime, noticed some whimpering coming from the wet rice fields, which were being irrigated, and began to bark and pull him in that direction. She eventually led her owner to four puppies that had been abandoned there and were soaking wet. The puppies’ crying helped attract the attention of Eiermann’s dog, which heard their distress.

The puppies were clearly newborns and needed to get some attention and food soon if they were going to survive. “I’m not sure how the puppies got there but I’m relieved that I found them,” Eiermann told Newsflare. The little puppies were so tiny and wet it looked as though they had just been born.

After bringing them out of the field, Eiermann posted videos of the adorable, helpless creatures on Facebook, asking if anyone knew of a pregnant mother who could help feed them. This proved to be especially important since one of the puppies wouldn’t feed from a bottle, and they needed the antibodies in the milk to help build their immune system.

Thankfully, one of Eiermann’s friends had a Pomeranian mother, which they introduced the “paddy field puppies” to. Though this strategy doesn’t always work, in this case it did. “She accepted the puppies as if it were her own! She barks at everyone who comes near them!” Eiermann posted. He added that the litter “wouldn’t have survived without the mother dog.”

Now that the puppies had made it through the critical first weeks, Eiermann set out to find them permanent homes. This was no mean feat given that many people in Bali already have animals and can’t take more. Eiermann said that he had just adopted another dog from the beach and couldn’t keep all of them. Here’s hoping that some willing families step in to take these little guys whose lives almost never started.