A mixed-breed dog, possibly a Labrador Retriever mix, with light brown fur and darker patches on its face, rests indoors under a white blanket against light blue walls. 4:48

From skin and bones to a dog who runs and plays

The tip was about a dog in trouble. What volunteers from Rescue from the Hart found was worse, a dog whose owner had been starving her on purpose for months. more

She was skin and bones, every rib showing, with a sad, haunted look in her eyes. Her organs were starting to shut down. She was so weak that when the volunteers set her down on a blanket, they had to place her leg and paws for her.

Saving her would take close to a miracle, and the staff set out to try. The hard part was food. It's tempting to give a starving dog all she can eat, but too much at once could have done her real harm, so at first she got only tiny amounts.

Bit by bit, the meals grew. Someone cheered her through a stretch with "Good stretch," and a little later, "There we go." Soon she had the energy to get up by herself and gobble treats with no help at all.

A thin dog with a purple bandage on her front leg bends down to sniff the floor near a dark object. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Still very thin, with a purple wrap on one front leg, she's up and sniffing the floor.

Food was only part of it. The volunteers gave her a lot of love. One visitor, a little girl, gazed into the dog's eyes and let her know that people cared about her.

A mixed-breed dog, possibly a Labrador Retriever mix, with light brown fur and darker patches on its face, rests indoors under a white blanket against light blue walls. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
The tip was about a dog in trouble.

As her body got stronger, so did her spirits. Her personality started to show. She trotted and wagged her tail, and she began to look like a normal, happy dog.

Once she was fully recovered, she was running around and playing with other dogs. The sad, haunted look was gone from her eyes. Next to the dog on the blanket, she hardly looks like the same animal.

Three people walk together outdoors; one wears a hat, one has dreadlocks and one has blonde hair. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
A walk outdoors, far from the blanket where her rescue began.

Best of all, she found a forever home. Once, someone had to place her paws for her. Now she gets to decide where they go.

#animalrescue