Dogs injured by quills and cans rescued by Twin Cities operation

Rescued abandoned dogs moved to Twin Cities

A massive rescue operation brought 200+ abandoned dogs from rural North Dakota to the Twin Cities as part of a massive local volunteer operation to rescue hundreds of dogs without homes from very cold and potentially deadly conditions.

(FOX 9) - A massive local volunteer operation recently rescued hundreds of dogs without homes from very cold and potentially deadly conditions.

Some of their situations have drawn waves of sympathy from across the country as they returned to the Twin Cities.

Puppies in a drain

From the depths of a drain, Coco’s Heart volunteers rescued eight abandoned, nearly newborn puppies.

Lilly Kessels was especially focused on the pup with its head lodged in a can.

"It’s stuck," said her mother, Kayla Kessels, as Lilly dragged the puppy to safety above ground.

Lilly was the smallest of the volunteers, so she wiggled her way in and out of the hole to make the save.

"It was very hard, very claustrophobic," she said. "I was shaking and it was, yeah, it was definitely really scary."

Porcupine victim, Quill

The rescue crew also found the victim of a porcupine encounter.

Dr. Lisa Roberts had to remove more than 100 quills from his face and mouth before sending him back to the animal rescue’s home base in Somerset.

"Good chance if you guys don't rescue this dog, he doesn't make it?" a Fox 9 reporter asked.

"A very good chance," Dr. Roberts said. "Not only what he may not be able to eat, won't be able to defend himself."

He’s earned the name Quill.

Look for the helpers

"This one just popped up a couple of days ago," said his new foster mom, Jill, pointing to one of the new quills that appeared on his about since she took him home almost two weeks earlier. "Right on the top. We call him Rhino."

And new battle wounds are still showing up two weeks after he found his way to a foster family, where he made the type of impression leading to a likely foster fail.

"You know, within about 20 minutes, he was sleeping on my husband's lap," Jill said. "And he goes, ‘well, let's send the application tonight. Can we do that?’ And, you know, it's kind of game over from there."

Coco’s Heart sends volunteers out to rural North Dakota around this time every year for its Out of the Cold mission.

Why North Dakota?

"There's a lot of just free roaming dogs out in these areas, reproducing kind of willy-nilly homeless dogs, homeless puppies, starving puppies," said Dr. Roberts.

They brought back more than 200 dogs this November, getting them immediate veterinary care well beyond the quills and can removal caught on video.

"I just, my heart sank and I was like, okay, we're doing this," said Jaci Houth.