A Manitoba organization that rescues dogs says a five-week-old puppy is clinging to life after being found frozen in a northern Manitoba community.

Manitoba Underdogs Rescue say “Demi” is being treated at Winnipeg Animal Emergency Hospital.

“I’ve never seen a puppy recover after being that cold,” says Manitoba Underdogs Rescue executive director Jessica Hansen.

“She was in really rough shape and it’s a miracle she’s alive,” Hansen said.

Demi is a Husky Shepherd mix puppy. She was found on Sunday afternoon by a community resident and surrendered to the rescue’s volunteers who happened to be feeding and picking up stray animals in the area.

The dog was rushed nearly three hours to Winnipeg for emergency veterinary care.

“I thought she was going to pass away in our arms on the drive to Winnipeg. She was nearly dead,” Hansen said.

“We snuggled her into the chest of one of our volunteers, wrapped her in heat packs, and put some corn syrup on her gums to try and increase her energy levels. She was just so tiny and helpless. It broke our hearts.”

Despite their efforts to get her warm, Hansen says when they dog to the vet, her body temperature was so low it didn’t even register on a thermometer.

“She’s living in an incubator right now, and will need to be kept warm and monitored for the next few days. We hope her health problems will end there, but we honesty aren’t sure,” Hansen said.

Hansen says Demi tested negative for the parvovirus and the rescue expects her treatment to be expensive.

“We’re asking our donors to please remember Demi and Manitoba Underdogs Rescue this holiday season,” says Hansen. “We brought two other dogs into our care on our trip yesterday, and five more for other local rescues, but there are more out there in need of homes.”

“We’d like to be able to bring more into care as temperatures drop and their situation gets even scarier, but that depends on our finances. We rely on donations from our generous supporters to allow us to help pups like Demi.”