When Hanah Hueston, an animal control officer with Vermilion County Animal Shelter, received a call about a husky wandering near a lake, she had no idea just how tense the rescue would become. She and her team arrived to find the dog curled tightly at the edge of a narrow dock, with nowhere left to run — and clearly terrified of being helped.
“We were ready to jump in after her if we had to,” Hueston recalled in a video for The Dodo.
The husky, later named Mingo, had cornered herself at the far end of the dock. Behind her, only freezing water. In front of her, strangers trying to get close. It was clear from her wide, panicked eyes that she wasn’t sure which path to choose — flight or trust.
“There was obvious trauma,” said Kathleen Orcutt, one of the rescuers. “She didn’t want to be there, and even though I was approaching slowly, she kept scanning for an escape.”
Everyone on the team silently hoped Mingo wouldn’t choose to leap into the freezing lake. But time was short. They knew that if she hadn’t been temporarily trapped on that dock, they might never have had another shot at rescuing her.
So they acted fast — and just in time, gently securing Mingo and carrying her to safety.
Only once she was out of danger did the team get a good look at her: a stunning husky with one icy blue eye and one warm brown one, still trembling and unsure. She was beautiful — and deeply afraid.
Back at the shelter, it became clear that Mingo had likely spent her life outdoors, with little human interaction. “Her behavior showed she hadn’t had much socialization,” Orcutt said.
At first, Mingo kept her distance. The shelter staff gave her space, speaking softly and offering treats, trying to show her she was safe. They didn’t rush her — instead, they let her set the pace.
Then, something shifted.
Mingo met Ralphie, a tiny, confident Chihuahua, and for the first time, her walls started to come down. With Ralphie by her side, Mingo began to explore, to play — and to trust.
“She really opened up around other dogs,” Orcutt said. “That’s when we started to see her true personality.”
Today, Mingo isn’t the scared husky trembling on a dock. She’s thriving in her forever home — warm, safe, and surrounded by love. She’ll never again have to choose between cold water and the unknown.
Instead, she now chooses affection, playtime, and the people (and pups) who believed in her when she couldn’t believe in herself.
