Extreme Makeover

He sat in the back of the cage of the shelter, barely even willing to look up. He was matted literally from head to toe. Even the worst behaved dogs or the meanest dogs wouldn't deserve to be left in the condition this little guy was left in. He had a couple of days left of misery and he realized thankfully it would all be over with because in this state, even death is a welcome relief. As if to add insult to injury, this little guy wasn't a spring chicken. No, he wasn't old by any means but he wasn't a year or two old and for many that's all they will consider. He really didn't have much of a chance. Who's going to save a dog like that?

One of our volunteers was sheltering shopping and writing down all of the dogs whose time was near when she came across this filthy mess at the back of the cage. He looked up with rootbeer colored eyes, almost pleading for help and then he decided better and ducked his head under the blankets. No sooner had she stopped than an officer behind her said, "What a mess...there's some others on the next aisle that don't look or smell as bad..." And somehow it was in those words that she realized she wasn't leaving without him. When no one else steps up, let it be us. And so she asked for him to be taken out and she held him in her arms and fed him the little treats she had in her pocket. He clung to her for dear life and she assured him, he wasn't going back in that cage.

Fast forward several weeks and this little stuffed animal with a heartbeat is the best dog we have in the rescue...well, second to a certain blind dog...but Magoo is really a one in a million dog. He's been groomed and to the vet and his extreme makeover didn't require an entire team and a week of effort. Rather, it required someone to care. It required someone not to turn a blind eye to his plight and to say they would make a difference in the life of one dog. And in it's complete essence, that is what rescue is all about...making a difference in the life of one dog at a time.