Dogs that are sold by breeders are often victims of neglect, or in the worst cases, abuse. One such dog was Grace, who was sold off to her owners when she was very sick.
She was grossly underweight and could barely stand upright. When her new owners found that they could no longer take care of her, they contacted the organization Animal Pad, who moved her to a foster home.
The Struggle for Survival
The woman at Grace’s new foster home saw how bad her condition was, and was deeply concerned. She saw that Grace was so weak and skinny that she could not even make a proper sound, let alone run around.
She would get tired while walking short distances and spent most of her time lying down. She mostly whimpered and whined, and had to be held in arms in order to make her stop crying. She was very underweight and did not want to eat.
Her new foster mom would give her all the care she needed, but before that, she needed to become strong and healthy.
So she put all her strength towards making Grace eat. Initially, she was so weak that she could not even chew properly, but gradually, with time, she began to eat bigger morsels.
The whole family became her ‘cheerleaders’ whenever she was able to eat.
Another big concern was that she barely wagged her tail. But when she did so, it made her foster family very, very glad.
After some time went by, she started behaving more like a normal puppy her age. At first, she only played lying down, but, with time, she started to become more active, moving around more.
Although she still could not run or walk very fast, she was gradually becoming more mobile. And with a lot of encouragement from her foster ‘sisters’.
She started running. You can imagine the kind of joy it brought her and her foster family when she was finally returning to normal and beginning to live a normal life.
Diagnosing the Cause
She was also being taken to the vet regularly. And after a prolonged period of tests and treatment, the vet was finally able to figure out what was wrong with her.
She was suffering from distemper— a fatal disease of the nerves. The breeder who sold her hadn’t got her vaccinated, leaving her in this state.
As her treatment advanced, she became more and more healthy, until one day she was no longer weak or sickly and returned to full-fledged normal life.
Now, she is a full-grown, healthy dog with beautiful fur and is as strong as any of the dogs her age. And in the most beautiful twist to the story, her foster family did not give her up, but ended up adopting her instead!
