In 2012 Sandi Hathaway was driving with her then-roommate who wanted to stop by and see his cousin.
Little did she know that detour would save a life.
They arrived at a gutted house with no electricity. Like an episode of Horders, there was trash and animal feces everywhere.
“We walked in and since there was no lighting, I saw a huddled mass in the corner,” Hathaway recalls. “He looked gray and black, but as I went to pet him, the black was actually scabs and dried blood. I told her she wasn’t fit to have a dog and took him on the spot.”
The puppy was barely over two months old and had no pads on his paws, making him unable to walk.
“I gave him 3 oatmeal baths a day, covered in pain relieving antiseptic liquid, antibacterial cream, ace bandages, and baby socks for his paws,” she says. “Once I was able to take him to the vet a couple days later, they said he’d never grow hair and be on meds the rest of his life.”
But Hathaway didn’t give up hope and kept treating the puppy, whom she name Dizzy.
“I knew he wouldn’t have made it if I’d left him there with that girl,” she says. “I knew nobody else would live at the vet’s office.”
He turned 2 in December 2014 and has been off his medication for six months. Look at him now!
Isn’t he handsome? It’s amazing what love and good care can do.
“He plays, cuddles, and is protected and babied by his best friend, Momma Kilo,” Hathaway says
Momma Kilo is Hathaway’s other pitty. She was walking down the street and someone asked her if she wanted a pit. She turned and saw a dog so thin you could count every bone on her body and she was eating bird seed. She had a broken rib and tail. Hathaway said yes and took her away.
Now, Momma Kilo is a certified service dog.
Hathaway says Dizzy will be too, but for now he is just enjoying getting to be a healthy dog.
“We’ve been through everything together, the three of us, and I’ll tell you what, the bond these two have with each other and me, I haven’t witnessed one stronger,” she says.
“And through it all, no aggression problems, they play with my ferret, they don’t care if I have my lizards on my shoulder, and my friend’s rabbit comes over to play,” she explains. “Kittens are loved by both.”
“These are the strongest and most resilient dogs,” she continues. “All they ever wanted was a family to love them. Like that saying goes: Saving a dog won’t change the world, but for that one dog, the world changes forever.”
Have a rescue story? Email me at Kristina@homelifemedia.com
