08/24/2026
💔💔💔I can honestly say this is one of the most heartbreaking situations I have ever witnessed. 💔💔💔
Yesterday, on Mike's way to work, he came across a mother raccoon who had been hit and killed by a car. And beside her was one of her babies ,a little girl desperately clinging to her mother's body. 💔😭💔
Marilyn immediately went out searching for her, but despite looking everywhere, she couldn't find her. Knowing this little girl was likely still nearby, frightened and unwilling to leave her mother, Marilyn set a humane trap and made the incredibly difficult decision to use the mother's body to try to bring her baby to safety.😭
Marilyn checked that trap six different times today.
On the sixth check, she found her.
This little girl was inside the trap, curled around her mother's lifeless body, hugging her. 💔😭
Marilyn couldn't bring herself to separate them. She brought the entire trap to us , mother and daughter together.💔💔💔
We named this beautiful little girl Serenity.💫
And unfortunately, Serenity's story became even more heartbreaking after she arrived.
As part of our intake protocol, she was tested for distemper.
Serenity was positive.😭
There are moments in wildlife rehabilitation that stay with you forever, and I know this will be one of them. We could not save this little girl from the devastating disease already inside her body. The kindest and most humane thing we could do was prevent the suffering that would eventually come.
But there was one thing we could give her , We could let her stay with her mom.😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
We didn't pull Serenity away from the mother she had fought so desperately to remain beside. We allowed her to curl up against her mom one final time, and Serenity was peacefully euthanized while lying beside her mother. 💔
She wasn't in a strange place by herself. She wasn't surrounded by unfamiliar faces without the one thing that had represented safety and comfort throughout her short life.💔
She was with her mama.🙏🏼
If anyone ever questions whether animals love, grieve, form bonds, or experience loss, I wish they could have seen Serenity. Her mother was gone, yet this little girl stayed beside her.💔 She returned to her💔. She held onto her.💔 Even after everything that had happened, she simply wanted her mom.💔
Sometimes rescue doesn't end with rehabilitation and release. Sometimes rescue means recognizing when we cannot fix what is happening and making sure an animal's final moments are filled with as much dignity, compassion and comfort as we can possibly give them.❤️🩹
Serenity's life was far too short. But before she left this world, she had a name. She mattered. She was loved. And most importantly, she got to leave this world exactly where she wanted to be, curled up beside her Mama.
Rest peacefully, sweet Serenity. 🦝💔
You held onto your Mama until the very end, and we made sure you never had to let go. 😭💔😭
