When animal control officers found Peanut, she was lying on the sidewalk and unresponsive.
They weren’t sure what happened to her, but the neighbors claimed that neighborhood kids had injected her with cocaine.
They did a drug test and found both cocaine and THC in her system.
She was taken to the Faithful Friends Animal Society, where she was hooked up to an IV and they attempted to flush the drugs out of her system. They could tell she wasn’t more than a year old, and they weren’t sure if she would pull through.
Kevin Rentz, marketing manager at the rescue, said:
“When she first arrived, she was unable to walk, stand, eat, or drink. Our vets had never seen a mistreatment dealing with narcotics like this. It was heartbreaking.”
They kept her hooked up to the fluids for two days and hoped that it would flush the drugs from her system as quickly as possible.
They also focused on keeping her comfortable in her crate and making sure she knew she was safe.
“She could barely hold her head up and was barely responsive. You could tell she did not know what was going on.”
After a couple days, she started to get better.
She started to move her head and become more alert. The team was surprised at how trusting and sweet she was. They all instantly fell in love with her.
Rentz said:
“She stole the hearts of all the vets and techs here. Once the drugs had started leaving her system, you could see her personality perk up.”
But she still needed a lot of care.
They had to get her eating and drinking on her own. After a few more days, she was almost as good as new. She was even feeling well enough to go outside and play. To mark her recovery, they renamed her Suzi.
She had fun exploring and even liked chasing a ball. They were amazed at how playful and curious she was. It was like she had never been allowed to play outside before. Rentz explained:
“She wouldn’t let her ball out of her sight.”
It wasn’t long before the local media had heard about Suzi’s rescue. Her story was on the local news station, and before long, people were showing up at the shelter to meet her. One family in Delaware rushed to be the first to have a chance to adopt her.
Aida Alicea thought that Suzi would be the perfect pet for her family.
Her daughter Rosa explained:
“We were devastated to hear that someone, especially kids, would do something so cruel. When we saw her for the first time, she was laying in the shelter cage and she just looked up at us. She was so calm, never barked, not fazed by all the barking around her.”
Suzi seemed to really like the Alicea family, too. She snuggled right up to Rosa’s son Johnathan and seemed to be comfortable with them. The family fell in love with her. They even talked about how strange it was that the dog’s name was Suzi.
Rosa explained:
“Our family dog growing up was also named Suzi, and she was the same color. I knew she was meant to be.”
The family officially adopted Suzi on St. Patrick’s Day, and she is a perfect fit.
She is healthy and happy, and the only sign that she ever had a problem is a tiny shaved spot on her left from the IV. She enjoys spending time with her new family, cuddling up with her new mom and dad, and, of course, chasing a ball around the yard.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
Sources: The Dodo, Faithful Friends Animal Society
