On a cold and snowy day in Pennsylvania, Christina Eyth stepped outside her home, expecting nothing unusual. But as she glanced down at the freshly fallen snow, something caught her eye—paw prints leading straight to her door.
The tracks looked like they belonged to a dog, and the pattern made Christina feel uneasy. Who was wandering out in the freezing cold? As Christina said for The Dodo:
“I saw that there were dog prints that went up to my door like he was looking in for help.”
Following the prints, Christina carefully made her way around her house, stopping just outside her basement door—and that’s when she saw him.
Huddled in the snow was a shivering, frail-looking animal.
His eyes were pleading, his thin body trembling from the cold. But there was one problem—Christina wasn’t sure what kind of animal she was looking at.
Despite her confusion, she knew one thing for sure—this animal needed help.
Without hesitation, she carefully lured him into her basement, offering him food and water.
His condition was heartbreaking—his fur was patchy, his body frail, and mange covered his skin, making it impossible to tell whether he was a stray dog, a wild animal, or something else entirely. As she explained:
“I wasn’t completely sure, but he never showed signs of aggression. I just saw an animal in need of help and wanted to help him.”
Determined to find answers, Christina took to her local message board, posting photos of the mysterious animal. The response was immediate.
A volunteer from Tj’s Rescue Hideaway, a Pennsylvania-based animal welfare group, reached out—but even they weren’t certain what kind of creature Christina had found.
Regardless, they knew he needed medical care. Christina also shared:
“Maria [the group’s organizer] and her team came out and were able to catch him without hurting him at all. [They] transported him to Wildlife Works-Mount Pleasant to get treatment and testing done to confirm what he is.”
Since it would take weeks for DNA test results to come back, the rescuers focused on what mattered most—helping the sick and malnourished animal recover.
They treated his severe mange, provided him with food, and handled him with gentle care to ease his fear.
Then, something completely unexpected happened.
After just a few days at the wildlife facility, the mystery animal managed to escape.
He ran off into the wild—and was never seen again. Eventually, the test results arrived, revealing the truth.
Christina’s mystery rescue was, in fact, a coyote.
While his escape may have surprised the rescue team, one thing was clear—he had returned to where he truly belonged.
But for Christina, the outcome didn’t change a thing.
“No matter the results of the test, I wouldn’t have changed anything I did to help him,” she said.
In the end, helping a creature in need—no matter the species—was all that mattered.