Poor darling Pequena!! Muttville has rarely encountered a more neglected creature. A 12-year-old poodle mix, she was surrendered to a Los Angeles animal shelter in terrible shape, with an uncertain future. Skin and bones, she only weighed 8 pounds, when her healthy weight should be 12 pounds. Worse still, her tiny frame was weighted down with huge mammary tumors. After years of untreated diabetes, she her sight was nearly gone.
The sad truth is for many, many years, nobody wanted Pequena. Someone kept her alive, but no one took care of her. And once she was dumped in a shelter, the even sadder truth is there was very little chance someone new would take her home.
But when you see that sweet face, don’t you just want to do something? Muttville couldn’t let her go – we arranged to have her brought up from Southern California, and as soon as she arrived, got her immediate medical care. We had the tumors removed, had her spayed and vaccinated, and got her diabetes under control with daily insulin injections.
As soon as she arrived at Muttville, we realized that in spite of everything, Pequena had a sweet and shining spirit. Curious, lively, and engaged with her surroundings, Pequena made it her goal to crawl into the lap of anyone who would hold her. We knew we had a special mutt on our hands, and the last piece of the puzzle was to find her soulmate.
That person was Donna. Donna is one of Muttville’s Mutt Angels – she heard about our mission on late-night local radio. Right there and then, she decided that saving senior mutts was going to be her life’s mission. She’s the person who calls saying: “Tell me which dog is going to be the hardest to adopt. That’s the one I want.”
Donna had already been an angel mom to six Muttville dogs: Oliver, Tallulah, Callie, Dorrit, Teddy, and Olive. As soon as she met Pequena, it was love.
Check out the two of them together – hard to believe that formerly sad little string bean is the healthy, robust, and adored creature you see now.
So many people, directly and indirectly, including transport volunteers, dog-walking volunteers, foster parents, participating veterinarians, and supporters made Pequena’s happy ending possible. Thank you to everyone for making a mutt’s dream come true!!
If you adopted a Muttville dog, we would love to feature you in an upcoming ‘Success Story’. Please contact success_stories@muttville.org with the Subject line ‘Success Story’
Adopt. Foster. Volunteer. Donate.
11/26/12
Are you the proud parent of a Muttville dog? Send us your story! Include three of your favorite photos and send it to success_stories@muttville.org with the subject line 'Success Story'.
