Dogs Slept Outside Hospital For Weeks Until They Could Visit Patient


When you work in a hospital, your primary focus is on helping individuals who are suffering from a variety of injuries or diseases. That is true of those who work in the Hospital Agudo medical facility in Brazil. Those injuries and diseases may take on many different forms but this week, it was a particular type of treatment that was needed.

It wasn’t a broken bone or an infection that needed care, it was a few broken hearts that needed mending. As it turns out, they were up to the task.

A local man was transferred to the hospital late last month. They started working on him right away but it wasn’t long before they noticed that something was happening outside.

There were two dogs that selected the area near the entryway to hang out. Nobody was sure why at first and, although they tried to get them to leave, they refused to do so.

The dog stayed there for two weeks and they were outside of the entrance day and night. As it turns out, they were there for a specific reason.

The staff at the hospital learned that the patient who had been admitted on the same day was the owner of those dogs. The one dog’s name is Princess and the other is Scooby. Princess belongs to the man in the hospital but Scooby is a friend of hers that decided to hang out as well.

When veterinarian Maria Alice Altermann learned about these dogs, she felt that they should come in for a checkup. Her friend was a nurse at the hospital where they were ‘visiting’.

As it turns out, they got more than a checkup.

Princess and Scooby had been very faithful in waiting for the patient to be released. The doctors at the hospital decided that everyone would benefit from a visit. They were first taken to a groomer to prepare and afterword, they were carried through the hospital hallways to the room.

The patient’s identity has been hidden for privacy reasons. When you see the reunion take place, however, you recognize it was a wonderful thing.

“We took the carriers into the room and released the dogs,” Altermann said. “The man began to breath excitedly. The dogs climbed on the bed, and we put his hand on Princess. And there she laid and stayed.”

It wasn’t officially medicine but it did have an effect on everyone in the room.

“We are honored to be able to contribute to this important and special meeting,” Altermann later wrote. “It will surely be reflected in the patient’s recovery and will soothe the distressed heart of the dogs who were missing him so much.”

Princess and Scooby are still being cared for by the hospital staff. They will be discharged along with the man when he is healthy enough.

“All of us on the staff of the Agudo Hospital Association are rooting for the recovery of our patient and that he returns home soon,” the facility wrote, “so that Princess and her friend can alleviate their longing.”


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