Anyone who’s been to New York in the winter knows just how cold the temperature can get over there – especially at night time.
So when somebody decided to abandon their dog on the freezing cold streets one January night, we’re thanking our lucky stars that the poor thing was able to get help before it was too late.
The pup might have been abandoned, but she was still trusting enough to approach somebody’s doorstep in Earlton, where she sat and waited patiently for the door to open. Eventually, the smart dog’s patience paid off, as a man in the house opened his door and discovered the hairless, skinny dog sitting on his doorstep.
“It appeared that she had been dumped by the roadside and abandoned,” a spokesperson for the Columbia-Greene Humane Society/SPCA wrote on Facebook. “It was a frigid night, and it was assumed she came to the door looking for food and warmth.”
The man instantly brought the dog inside to warm her up, and he called the police who took her to a nearby shelter.
The staff instantly fell in love with the dog, who they named Penny, and they knew that they urgently needed to get her to a vet to start treatment.
“She was in bad shape,” Ron Perez, president of the Columbia-Greene Humane Society/SPCA, told The Dodo. “She had some open lacerations on her face and neck, and was pretty much devoid of any hair. It was sad. It’s always sad to see them like this.”
The vets discovered that Penny was suffering from a condition called Demodex mange, and she had mites burrowing into her skin. She’d lost most of her fur, and her skin was flaky and scabbed and looked incredibly sore. We’ll never know what kind of past Penny had been through, but the fact that she’d arrived at the vet’s with such a serious skin condition shows the sheer neglect that she must have received.
Penny began treatment for her mange straight away, and her fight for life was truly inspirational. In no time at all, she was beginning to show signs of improvement – as if she was more than ready to put the past behind her.
But with medical treatment and lots of loving care, Penny got better — and more quickly than anyone expected.
“Within one week, she looked like a different dog,” Ron said. “The vet was pretty impressed with her recovery.”
A few more weeks passed, and Penny’s mange had completely cleared. Although her fur may never fully grow back, her skin was now smooth and healed again.
“She’s a real fighter and very resilient,” Ron said “Her stress levels are clearly much lower now, because she’s interacting with people and she has proper food and is sleeping correctly.”
As Penny was receiving her treatment, the Columbia-Greene Humane Society/SPCA had been working to find out who could be behind such disgusting neglect – and less than 24 hours later, Penny’s former owner was identified and arrested on animal cruelty charges. If convicted, he could face a $1,000 fine and jail time.
And that wasn’t the only good news. Penny was about to be adopted!
“We got a lot of applications to adopt her,” Ron said. “But these two individuals are fantastic pet owners. They took it slowly and came and visited with her a couple times a week. They brought their dogs in, and everyone got along fabulously. I’d like to think this will be the last home she’ll ever go to.”
After a few visits to the shelter, the family visited for one final time – and this time they left with Penny. She can now go on to have the life that she’s always deserved.
“She’s just a sweet dog,” Ron said. “She really doesn’t have a mean bone in her body. She’s an absolute doll, and she’s going to be a great pet.”
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