They say a picture is worth a thousand words. That sure is true of this picture. The sadness in her eyes says it all. So many people overlooked her or shooed her away as she foraged for a bit of food. She was emaciated, paralyzed in her rear from an old injury which also caused some neurological problems, and totally afraid of people.

As a feral dog, her life was a struggle every day just to survive.  She was found by our staff members from In Defense of Animals’ Hope Animal Sanctuary all alone and lying in a muddy puddle of water, unable to rise on her own.

She was terrified and did not understand that we were there to help. As we approached, she struggled to escape, crying out in fear and pain. Her injuries were severe and her body was shutting down from starvation.  We made the decision that we felt was best for her and asked our vet to gently release her from her suffering.

How can we look the other way while animals starve? She is just one of thousands of dogs that live on the fringes of our busy lives. We drive or walk past them every day. How can we?