Dogs, as much as humans, feel love, compassion, fear, and trauma.
And while we are much more aware of animal abuse such as physical cruelty and abandonment, other people have found ways to traumatize their pets just so they can make money out of it. This was the case with Harleigh, a mother chihuahua who was rescued from a puppy mill.
Puppy mills are high-volume dog breeding facilities that maximize profit over welfare.
The only aim of these establishments is to churn out as many puppies as they can while also cutting costs in the dogs’ needs.
Small and cramped houses are stacked and littered with various crates containing different breeds of cats and dogs. Dogs are sometimes found with their coats matted because the mixture of their excrement has caked over their bodies.
For puppy mill owners, their dogs only need to do four things: breed, eat, drink, and sleep. Anything other than that is not paid attention to.
The puppies coming from these mills are often sold on the internet, promising popular breeds at unbelievable prices.
Because of these deplorable conditions, these puppies and their mothers are prone to various diseases. Some of them will never see daylight as they are caged in basements, but all of them will carry scars and trauma.
One such dog is Harleigh.
She was rescued by the National Mill Dog Rescue. Up until that point, she spent three and a half years living in a cage, having litter after litter of puppies. Being raised in such a facility made her fearful of human contact.
She would avert her gaze and cower in the corner of her cage. In just one look you can quickly understand that she’s anxious, nervous, and scared. It makes you think of how much abuse she went through that her first instinct when seeing signs of human contact is to run away.
In fact, when she was held close for the first time, she dug her nails into the volunteer’s arm.
Fortunately, the volunteer didn’t give up on her.
He continued to sit inside her kennel to ease her into the human touch.
It took time and it was definitely not easy. Whenever the volunteer outstretches his hand towards her, Harleigh runs away and tucks herself into the farthest part of her kennel.
There are moments where she walks closer, only to surrender to her fear and retreat back into her spot. It was painful and heartbreaking to watch but the volunteers knew that with patience, they can all overcome the trauma.
They feel that she wanted to bond.
They just need to give her time and space to do so, just like everyone who undergoes the process of healing.
It might take a long while, but we hope she’s comforted by the fact that she’ll be cared for by people who sincerely want to get her better.
Hope is very much alive for her, however, when they shared an update of the YouTube video. Haleigh has since been adopted and is doing her best to recover in her forever home.
Watch how this volunteer snuggled a dog to help her recover from her trauma.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
