Precious will be arriving at Pets Alive on the 23rd.
This is such a touching story and so many special people reached out to try to help this poor assiduous soul. I wanted to share her story with you and to introduce you to a very special rescue person named Anita.  Anita is the one writing almost all the below.  She takes very badly damaged dogs into her home and works with them before sending them on to rescue.  We have taken many dogs from her in the past.  Unlike many rescue people, Anita is still so kind and so courteous and so very compassionate.  She isn’t pushy and she doesn’t play the “guilt card”.  She never lies to you about a dog.  She is brutally honest about all their issues and what she has done to try to help them.  Many rescue people are NOT like that.  I am not beating up on rescue folk.  God knows that their hearts and souls are so damaged and so wounded that all they can often think about is how to save that next dog and if someone would just give this dog a chance…and it consumes them and it keeps them awake at night.  So I am NOT beating up on them, but most have been doing it for so many years that they become jaded and weary and willing to do anything to save the animal.  I do not sit in judgment of them. I applaud all their efforts and I grieve with them over their failures.  Yet once in a while you meet someone different.  Someone that has not become bitter and someone who can still tell you about a dog with feeling and emotion and passion and deep love and understanding.  My hat is off to this very special woman.  Anita …..thank you for what you do and for who you are.  We look very forward to meeting Precious and finding her a person to love her  and give her a chance.  Thanks for loving her and caring for her and seeing past her wounds and her damage.

The first email was from Colleen.   She is the senior animal transport coordinator for Petsmart Rescue “waggin”.
This was her email that was sent to me by Anita:
Precious the dog’s rescue has fallen through!!! She escaped a cruelty case, the shelter, recovered in a foster home, has been fully vetted, and no has NOWHERE TO GO!!! She may end up back at the shelter to be euthanized. PLEASE don’t let her go through all this just to die in a shelter! Pics are attached. She is a  cruelty/neglect case who was too weak to stand when taken to the pound. Pleas contact Colleen if you can help this sweet baby!!!!
Please note she is now FULLY VETTED and STABLE!!! She has made a lot of progress since going to a foster home. She had a rescue lined up, but it fell through. Here is her story, written by a caring shelter worker:
We have a dog here that I am trying to work rescue on and am wondering if you or anyone you know could help.
We got a call for an investigate neglect.  We went out and gave the owners a chance to correct the situation.  They never fixed the issues, so instead of being cited, they decided to turn both dogs in to us.  One was a year and a half old, the other is almost ten.  The young one we already got adopted out but the older one is still here.  Her name is Precious, and she is just that.  The first day she was here she was so weak she couldn’t even stand.  I had to carry her from receiving to quarantine.  She’s a chow/shepherd mix who was starved almost to death.  She is a skeleton underneath all her hair.  I really can feel every single bone on her body.  I’ve kind of taken her under my wing & have been feeding her 4-5 small meals a day.  As starved as she is she still has no food aggression what so ever.  In fact, what little food they were being fed, Precious was letting her sister eat.
I’ve kind of gotten attached to her as you may have picked up on.  I just want to give her a good life for the years that she does have left.  As much time as I’ve spent with her, she still cowers every time I hold my hand out.  Every time she hears a loud noise, or even just a noise, she freaks out.  She is very timid around people, and I can tell that she’s had a very rough life.  She’s now able to walk, and we do walk around a couple of times a day, but she is still using the bathroom in her cage.  I think it still just takes too much strength.  She can now get down off her bed to poop, and sometimes she is able to get down to pee now.  But she is still at times having to just relieve herself on her bed.  I’ve been changing out bedsheets a lot less frequently now though.  Also, it took a few days to get her to even walk outside, so I’m not sure what kind of trauma she’s been through, but I think just being outside brings up issues for her.
She went to a temporary foster home because she was too weak to be spayed and her rescue was in WI. The shelter wouldn’t let her leave the state until she was spayed, so the foster home kept her until she could be vetted. Now, the rescue has backed out, and she is going to have to go back to the shelter if no one will take her. I am not sure what she is. She is scared of men, but likes women.
Anyway, I feel like I’m rambling right now and it’s getting really late, so I’m going to go ahead and send this.  If you need any further details or have any suggestions where to go from here please let me know!!
Thanks so much for all you do!  Sorry I wrote such a long email!!
So then I get the following simple words from Anita in an email:
Kerry,
Please see below.  Any interest in this girl?  If so, I can work with her and get her transported to you.  She is fully vetted according to this, and I can work through any other vetting that she may not have that you would require.  Time is of the essence on this girl.

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I wrote back:
Yes.
Get her to us please.

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Thank you Kerry.  I will start working on this one right away.  I hated to see her go down after all she has been through.  She is a very pretty girl.  I will get her to me and start working with her.

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Kerry,
Precious came to me on Saturday.  We have already been working.  She is fearful upon meeting new people, men and women, but does warm up after a bit with both.  She does prefer women.  She tends to avoid meeting up with other dogs.  She needs to gain a little more weight, and that is no problem. She did well on the transport and went in and out of cars.  She learned to walk on a leash on her collar yesterday, and spent time at our local park exposed to lots of different things.   She seemed to enjoy a leisurely walk.
We will continue to work and I will update you when it feels that is close to time for her to come to Pets Alive.
Again, thank you for taking her.  She is very sweet and deserves a chance to live out the rest of her life in peace.
Anita
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Then this came tonight:
Hi Kerry,
I am writing to see if Pets Alive will be ready for Precious to come this coming weekend on the 23 or 24th.  I have received an offer for transport that will be great for Precious.  A transport coordinator that I regularly drive for is coming North and can bring her all the way to Harrisburg, PA.  This will only leave four short legs to fill to Middletown.
Precious has now been with me for a week.  In that time she has made wonderful progress.  I have attached a photo of her made today.  Her face and eyes have already become softer and more trusting.
Precious is a very sweet dog who has a lot of love to give. Once she learns that she can trust you she bonds very quickly, and although there are good signs her confidence is coming back, she does depend on her trusted human for reassurance a great deal.  She really, really likes to be with you, in the same room with you, by your side.  She responds well to a reassuring voice, and likes to be spoken to.  She is still a bit fearful of strangers and will hide behind you until she feels assured that all is well, but is doing much better with this.  Precious is becoming attached to me more each day as her primary care giver. I think it is important to her well being to get her into her forever home soon so that she can begin this bonding process with her new human.
Precious is house trained, and has had no accidents since she has been here.  She prefers to be free of the leash to do her business, but will eliminate if leashed.  She is presently being taken out 4 times daily.  Once when she wakes, mid-day, late afternoon, and before bedtime.  Precious also has good dog manners.  She doesn’t chew her toys or her bed and seems to understand what is expected of her if relayed in a calm even tone.  She is such a good dog, that I don’t understand what she could ever have done that merited her abuse.  I will NEVER understand some people.
She has done very well with her male fear, even approaching some men on her own.  However, there are still some men that bring retreat and that look of terror back onto her face.  As there is no physical resemblance in these men, I believe it must be voice resemblance.
She is excited to see me in the morning.  Wagging her tail, which curls up at the very end, and visibly “brightening”.  She gives kisses now, and is liberal with them!!  She is still unsure of hugs, standing very still, but she does not refuse them.  You can touch her anywhere, and give her kisses on her head and nose.  She is uncomfortable with you behind her, watching diligently to see what you are up to, and she does not like to be picked up.  However, she has not shown any human aggression of any kind.
She seems to be fine with older calm dogs that approach her slowly, but she tends not to like younger more exuberant dogs that want to play or chase her.  She will avoid them, and if pushed by them will lift her lip and continue her attempt to avoid them. We have not tested her with a cat as we do not have one, and the neighbor’s cat will not stand for this, as she is not good with dogs!
Precious enjoys outdoor exercise and is now accustomed to her leash.  She enjoys being on it, and enjoys her daily stroll in the park.  She is up to a leisurely 3/4 mile walk, then is ready for a nap.
She is still fearful of stick shaped objects in your hands and you must slowly show her what you have.  A sudden move with a wooden spoon, hairbrush or curling iron sends her cowering to the floor. Sudden raised or urgent voices also bring a cowering reaction.
She did great at a softball game and a violin concert in the park where she was able to sit by me, but was quickly ready to leave our downtown festival with lots of noise and people milling about in an uncontrolled way.  She enjoys PetSmart on days when it is not crowded and there aren’t many dogs there.
Precious will do best in a quiet home with calm, middle aged to older adults.  She prefers being indoors as opposed to outdoors, and did try to escape our outdoor fence by pushing under the gate.  She is fine getting into and out of cars and likes riding in one.  She loves to ride shotgun and watch the world go by.
Her dying fur has mostly fallen out is and being replaced with soft, shiny fur.  I am having her professionally groomed this Wednesday.  Precious has a very pretty face, and with the grooming will be a very pretty dog.  She is about knee high and weighs 51 pounds. She seems to be in good overall health except that her bottom front teeth are worn down. She has one ear that stands up and one that folds over!!  Very CUTE!!
Precious is heartworm negative, spayed and has had her rabies vaccine.  I have e-mailed Janet to see what else I will need to have done for her before she come to Pets Alive.
Kerry, thank you for seeing in Precious what I saw in her in her urgent post, a sweet, sweet dog that deserves a quiet, loving home where she can spend the rest of her days in peace, and for giving her that opportunity at Pets Alive.
Many thanks,
Anita

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Goodness.  No Anita.
Thank YOU.
Thank you for doing all you have done to help this wonderful girl find love for once in her life.
We will be sure to not let her down.
So now I turn to all of you.
Come and meet Precious.
I am sure that if you open your heart to her, she will give back to you twice as much.