If not for China, (pronounced Cheena) an Argentinean farm dog, the newborn baby would have never survived the night. The little girl's 14-year-old birth mother delivered her in a field and left the baby there alone and without shelter on a frigid evening where temperatures dipped to a low 37 degrees.
It was only after hearing the infant's mournful cries that Fabio Anze, a local farmer, went to investigate the sounds. What he found still amazes those who hear the incredible story. The tiny newborn, naked and bleeding from superficial cuts and bruises was laying with his dog China and her litter of puppies. Apparently the infant had been dragged some 50 feet by the motherly canine and was kept warm throughout the chilly night time hours.
Health experts who have examined the baby after this incredible ordeal agree that the baby would have no doubt died from exposure to the elements had it not been for the maternal performance of this gentle dog. Many have speculated that this benevolent act was merely blind instinct to this old farm animal. I prefer to believe that this display of kindness and compassion has more divine origins.
Animals Follow God's Commands
One need only peer into the pages of scripture to see animals following God's commands.
"...they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life. So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in" (Genesis 7:14-16).
If we ascribe to the truthfulness of the Bible's account of this story, a thought emerges that gives us pause to reflect on God's communication skills with the animal kingdom. The story of Noah and the animals suggests that they heard the command and obeyed it implicitly.
Could it be that this dog in Argentina was obeying the commands of a Creator interested in saving the life of an infant from inevitable death? Is it possible that the same One who created this maternal pooch can also communicate with it?
One thing is sure; if this is a reality, God is an incredible communicator and a Creator with an amazing capacity to love!
