Where Are They Now? A Hoarding Case Re-Visited; Part Five. The Story of Lady, one of 3 puppies

A little more than two years ago, HSTJ responded to a hoarding case, a man was found to be hoarding 157 dogs in two locations of Tijuana. (a link to the article is below). As a result of mass publicity and the help of rescue groups, 80% of these animals were adopted out. However, the conditions of the animals that remained were horrible. HSTJ arrived to conduct a street clinic on these remaining animals, but as volunteers started processing the animals and treating them, we slowly realized that we could not just leave them there, we had to do something. Within an hour, we had found a property where we could temporarily house the remaining dogs, a huge undertaking for an organization of such meager resources, but the volunteers were strong, resourceful and determined. I don't think we realized how much work would have to be put into this project but in the end it was well worth the blood, sweat and tears.


Read the full story here: http://friendsofhumanesocietydetijuana.blogspot.com/2009/02/hstj-responds-to-needs-of-animals-of.html

I have decided to re-visit this story and follow up with as many of the owners of the rescued hoarding dogs, so that their amazing stories can be shared and live on forever.

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The Story of Lady, one of the three puppies rescued from the hoarding case

We weren’t really looking for a dog when we came across Lady. My fiancé Josh was finishing law school and had the Bar exam to study for in the summer. If anything, a new puppy was the last thing on our minds. But then we saw her nestled in a crate with another puppy at the Whole Foods adoption event. It was love at first site.

Luckily, we had my dog Calliope with us so she was able to meet Lady right from the get go. Lady seemed to look up to her right away, following her around the event and taking a few cues from her when she was afraid of a noise or another dog. We took Lady home that day.

A few weeks after we adopted Lady, we took her to the vet for a check-up and some vaccines. Through routine testing, we found out that she had giardia, a parasite that she likely picked up from the water in Tijuana or from another dog in the hoarding situation. She also had a lump on the inside of one of her back legs. The vet said it looked like she may have broken her leg when she was a tiny puppy and now had a bone callous since the leg wasn’t treated. Rest assured, though Lady has made a full recovery and her bone callous doesn’t bother her in the least. She runs and jumps with no problems at all. She is a resilient little thing with a big heart and energetic disposition.

Lady fills our lives with excitement and joy every day. She is a little over two years old now, but she still looks at the world through her puppy eyes. Just yesterday she followed a caterpillar across the patio in the backyard, trying really hard to figure out what that weird thing was! She and Calliope get along great and spend a lot of time wrestling, chasing birds, and hanging around the backyard. Another one of her favorite things to do is to burrow under the blankets and snuggle with us at night. Lady isn’t a small dog, so she takes up quite a bit of space, but she looks so comfortable. It is hard to kick her out even if that means we don’t get as much sleep!

We are so lucky to have Lady. She is a testimony to how special rescue dogs are. She has so much love and joy to share and does so unabashedly every day. Please do what you can to help dogs like Lady. I can’t imagine a world without companion animals like her in it.