In April 2012 it was decided we would get a dog, my husband let me be in charge of this and we knew we wanted to adopt from an animal shelter. It had been a rough two years, our oldest daughter had been very sick and in and out of specialty hospitals. I knew it was time for our whole family to have a pet to help them heal from everything we had been through. The search began, and the first dog we wanted from our local humane society fell through, we were next in line on the waiting list. I read a news article a few days later about a huge puppy mill raid on the other side of our state, and the horrific things these poor dogs had been through. It felt right, so we hopped in the car and drove quite a ways to see the dogs from the raid. My daughter kept telling me we needed to see this dog, the poor thing was so scared and shaking. I was hesitant to say the least, my youngest two children are rambunctious to say the least. When we met him and spent time with him in the little room that was it, let’s just say he picked us. Our Brownie had lived in a small kennel with 40 other dogs for the first three years of his life. We took him home and loved him and reassured him, he was scared of everything, he didn’t know what grass was, he was afraid of the wind, for the first two weeks I had to sit a few feet away from him to get him to eat and he would look to me for reassurance. He has blossomed, he loves the snow and car rides, and snuggling on a lap. I often say he deserves to be spoiled because he had such a rough life. But most of all his bond with my daughter can never be overlooked, when she is not feeling well from her medical issues, he won’t leave her side, they are bonded for life. Truly he saved us, and has been a tremendous blessing for our whole family.

Kathy Burgess

Photo: Britt & Brownie

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