In July of 2020, I worked for the SPCA. I had seen hundreds of dogs come through our doors, but had never committed to taking any home. I fostered this little 8-9 month old puppy who had a major heart defect and was not thriving at the shelter. He was emaciated- only weighing about 4 pounds, and he had a chopped hair coat due to being severely matted and then shaved. He had transferred from another shelter where he had been brought in as a stray, I have no idea how he was able to survive that long on the streets. He looked pitiful, and I knew he had to come home with me. We ended up raising enough money to allow for him to have the surgery he needed. Two unsuccessful attempts to fix his PDA, resulted in me adopting him through our “Pawspice program”- knowing that he was ultimately going to live a short life. I had gotten him up to almost 6 pounds at this time, and he was living a very loved life. A few months after adopting him, his cardiologist suggested we try surgery one more time at a different hospital. If successful, his prognosis was great, and we should be able to see him live a relatively normal little dog life. No question, we had to do it! We traveled from California to Colorado where we spent a week, and one last attempt was made to fix his broken heart. Third time was a charm! They were able to fix the main problem, and he was able to come home and not have to take any more heart medications. This was only two weeks ago, and you would never know to look at him that he has been through so much in his short little life. We find out in about three more weeks if everything is healing as planned, so we are praying for the best. He is the greatest dog, and we have become inseparable. He came to me during a very rough time, and helped me to get out of my funk. I am truly blessed that I have been able to help him just as much.

Lynn
ANTELOPE, CA