A woman heartbroken over the loss of her dog responded to a telephone call about a small dog wandering the streets all alone and she hoped against hope that it might be her lost baby. Immediately upon arrival, she realized this was not her dog, but she also knew this poor girl needed her help.  She delivered the frightened dog to Winona Veterinary Clinic and asked Dr. Daniel Hill if he might be able to find someone to take her.  The little dog was extremely thin with horribly matted hair and infected eyes.

That same day, Sharon Stone, Operations Manager for In Defense of Animals' Hope Animal Sanctuary, stopped by the clinic to pick up some medications for other dogs.  Dr. Hill asked if the Sanctuary might be able to help.  Our answer was a resounding yes!

We named her Carrie and the job of cleaning her up and cutting the matted hair fell to Lynn Mann of Winona Veterinary Clinic.  With a terrible allergy caused by fleas, and from having to live in filth, what little hair she had was matted to her skin.  Lynn had to shave all of her hair down to the skin in order to get rid of the matting. Her eyes had become infected from all the matting as well as her general poor condition.

The next move was to find a foster parent who would commit to a dog who would require medicated baths every three days and lots of TLC.  Sharon called our intrepid foster mom Carolyn Blakemore and texted the picture of Carrie.  Carolyn immediately said she was up for the challenge. 

Carrie stayed in the hospital for a few days, getting much needed medication and rest prior to being spayed.  Once she was ready, Carolyn brought her home and began the slow process of nursing her back to health.

Today Carrie has all of her hair back, the infection in her eyes is healed and she has gained weight and now weighs about 9 pounds.  Very soon she will be leaving Carolyn’s loving care and heading to her forever home.  Although Carolyn and her family love Carrie, they know there are many more dogs waiting to be helped and so through their tears, they send foster dogs off to loving guardians and prepare for the others that will inevitably come into their care.

Because of your donations to In Defense of Animals, Carrie, and many more like her, will not have to live on the streets.  They can look forward to full lives with loving guardians where they will always be loved and cared for.

Please help dogs like Carrie by making a donation here.

Pictured is Carrie the day Sharon saw her at Winona Veterinary Clinic.