The Trio Animal Foundation was walking through a public animal shelter in Chicago when they spotted a dog named Belle that completely tugged at their heartstrings.
They saw a little dog in a cage that was absolutely drenched in her own saliva. The poor girl had slobbered and drooled so much that her face was soaking wet. Belle stared at the rescuers in a total stiff gaze, trembling in fear. The shelter staff told them that her anxiety was so bad that she just vomited moments before.
TAF. asked if the tiny dog was sick, but as it turns out – Belle was completely healthy. The heartbreaking truth was that she was just terrified and overwhelmed with anxiety because her owner had just surrendered her to the shelter.
“She was inconsolable,” Brigid Nolan, medical and shelter director for TAF, said. “You could just tell she was screaming ‘Help me’ on the inside. She was so upset.”
Nolan saw the fear and desperation in the Belle’s eyes and knew that they couldn’t leave her there. They approached her and the little black dog began to wag her tail. After taking her back to the rescue center, they gave her a bed in her very own room so that she could relax and get comfortable.
“She was still really worried — she didn’t eat and was on high alert,” Nolan told The Dodo.
A few days of staying at the rescue center, surrounded by love, the once terrified dog began to make a transformation.
“She just started smiling,” Nolan said. “You could tell she was feeling comfortable.”
As each day passed, sweet Belle would just become happier and happier. The rescue staff has been in complete awe of her loving and relaxed mood, despite having been thrown into a scary, new situation overnight.
“She’s not super crazy and playful, she just wants to hang out with us,” Nolan said. “She’s very easygoing and mellow.”
Belle is a healthy dog overall, but the vet staff noticed a knee condition that might require surgery in the future. They want to keep her until they’re certain she’s in perfect health to find her forever home.
“When we saw her, we knew she needed help,” Nolan said. “We’ve had a lot of interest in her already — people just wanted to get in the car and come down here to comfort her. She’s such a smiley girl now. It’s like she knows she’s safe.”
Belle is so happy and trusting now, we know that she’ll only thrive as time passes. It’s clear that this sweet girl will be surrounded by people that love and care for her for the rest of her days. Right now, it’s wonderful knowing that she’s safe and sound with the TAF staff.
If you’re interested in adopting Belle once she’s ready, you can apply on the rescue’s website.
Belle isn’t the only successful rescue story of the Trio Animal Foundation. In fact, they have an entire page dedicated to their ‘Before and After‘ rescue animals. The smiles on all of their faces say it all.
“Many sick and horribly injured animals are brought to shelters each day, and the costs of medical care can easily reach into the hundreds or thousands of dollars per animal. These high medical costs can deter shelters and individuals from taking these animals in, thus leading to the unnecessary deaths of thousands of animals every year. For these troubled animals, TAF can be the answer. But there is far more to the TAF story than a mission statement,” it says on their website.
The work that TAF and their rescuers are doing is simply amazing. If you’d like to make a donation to them, you can do so here.
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