Monday, January 31, 2011

Helen is Loved











Christmas Eve morning, ACO April brought in a dog whose skin was literally falling off of her in pieces, whose nails were curled under touching her pads, who was so exhausted by life that she slept for nearly the entire first week she spent in our shelter, always covered in blankets by caring staff-members and volunteers to protect her from the drafts that were blowing through the shelter that cold and wet Christmas week.

There was something special about Helen that touched shelter staff, and instead of putting her to rest, the decision was made to save this girl and bring her back to life. With lots of nutritious food to strengthen her depleted body, medicated baths to soothe her skin, and t-l-c to warm her heart, Helen became stronger and seemed ready to take her first walk with a devoted volunteer. Getting outside into the fresh air (but no sunshine), energized Helen and the pace of her progress seemed to increase markedly.

Muttville http://www.muttville.org/, a rescue which places older dogs into permanent foster situations took Helen in and found for her what seems to be from these pictures, the perfect home. For those of us who remember the early days of Helen's stay at BACS, these pictures depict a dog who doesn't resemble in the slightest the dog who came in on that cold and rainy Christmas Eve morning. Thank you BACS staff, thank you Muttville, and thank you so very, very much Foster Mom for giving Helen the home she has waited for much too long.

3 comments:

Barbara said...

This is so wonderful. It is a joy to see Helen finally living the good life!

Joel said...

It's great when older dogs finally get the treatment they deserve. I'm sure she is very appreciative, and she does look a lot better than when she first came to the shelter.

I love the bed, she looks super-comfy in there.

Loraine said...

This brings tears of joy to my eyes. Very touching and sweet. Thank you for posting, Pam.